Once Upon a Time

"Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, there lived a princess," Parker began, eyes closed as he leaned against the wall. A giggle came from beside him and his blue eyes slid slowly open to look at his best friend. "What?"

Jillian shook her head slowly at the boy sitting next to her. "Don't you think I'm a little old for fairy tales, Park?" Her blonde curls were scattered all around her head like a sandy halo on her pillow and her green eyes sparkled with amusement.

Parker made a face at her. "You're the one who asked for a bedtime story, idiot. Now let me finish."

No more interruptions sounded from the girl's pink lips, so he went on.

"Anyways, there lived a princess. This particular princess was unlike any other that had ever lived before her. Not because she was exceptionally beautiful, nor because she was exceptionally rich. No, this princess was special because of her exceptionally kind heart." Jillian snorted; Parker raised an eyebrow. "Objections, your honor?" he mocked.

"All princesses in fairy tales have exceptionally kind hearts, dumb-dumb; therefore, she's not 'unlike any other that had ever lived before her'."

Parker flicked Jillian's nose lightly. "Shut up, and let me finish. Now.

"This princess, despite everything swirling around her, had an exceptionally kind heart. Her father had abandoned her; her mother was abusive; she didn't even have a fairy god-mother to save her from the pain and torture that she went through daily."

A little gasp escaped Jillian's lips and her eyes began to fill with moisture. "Park..."

"Despite all this, the princess grew up gentle and loving. All those around her never could have imagined the terrors that haunted her in the night."

The girl's hand rested lightly on her friend's arm, willing him to stop. "Park, what are you..."

"Shush," he whispered, smiling gently. "For all you know this could be any princess in the world." Jillian's hand rose slowly off of his arm and he resumed his tale once more. "The princess was loved and adored by all her subjects, and she treated them all justly, but sometimes it all became a little too overwhelming. So, to counteract her stress, she would go out riding. One day, a gallant prince was riding through her kingdom on his valiant steed, when he caught a glimpse of the princess, her dark hair streaming out behind her as she galloped over the grassy knoll."

Jillian's breathing was growing slower; she would be asleep soon.

"Struck with an overwhelming desire to know who this girl was, the prince followed her at a safe distance."

"Skip to the good part..." Jill mumbled, rolling over onto her side and burying her face further into her pillow.

Parker chuckled lowly. "Fine. The prince wooed the princess for years and years, declaring his undying love for her every dawn and dusk so that it was the first and last thing she heard every day. But the princess never gave into his advances, while she was kind and loving, she was afraid to receive love, for the only love she had ever known had abandoned or abused her.

"Night after night, day after day, the prince worked tirelessly to win his beloved's heart. 'What must I do to prove my love to you?' he asked her. 'Bring me a leaf from the golden tree of Liliara,' she replied, 'Travel for me to the ends of the earth to prove your love for me. Return in a week or I shall assume you have abandoned me.' The prince accepted this quest and left almost immediately. He rode day and night, only resting when his horse needed to, so determined was he to win the fair lady's heart. After four days he arrived at last at the golden tree and he gently plucked one of the delicate leaves from the tree's branches. He turned at once, and rode longer and harder than he had before, for he could not let the princess down. At sunset on the seventh day, he found that his princess had been taken from her castle. Fear gripped his heart and the thought that she had been harmed and he searched the four corners of the earth for her. He found her finally, in a black castle named Massenus. He fought through waves of enemies, fearing with each new enemy that he would be too late to save her. When he had cut the last one down, he rushed up the steps and threw the door to her dungeon open. She was there, alive and well. 'Truly you must love me,' she declared, falling into his arms, 'if you have come this far to save me.'

"Not a fortnight later, the prince and princess were married, and he carried her away from her past on his valiant steed."

"I wish I had a prince," Jillian mumbled tiredly.

"Sh... let me finish." With one hand, Parker smoothed Jillian's hair down. "As they rode off into the sunset, the prince whispered to his princess, 'I love you' and she returned his words to him. And together, they lived happily ever--"

Parker's story was interrupted by a flat-line appearing on Jillian's heart monitor. She had fallen into her eternal sleep. Tears filled his eyes and he stood, leaned over the bed-rail, and pressed his lips into her hair.

Taking one of her hands into his own, he traced the faded scars along her wrist gently. "Goodbye," he murmured. "I love you."

His princess did not respond.

"Once upon a time," he began again, as he left her room. "There lived a gallant prince, who could not save his princess in time." He glanced back at Jillian and a tear fell from his face and splashed onto the floor. "The End."

///

Just a little poorly-written smidgey I wanted to write because I freakin' can. XD I was reading sad stories on here and I was like 'I want to write one now, darnit.' so I did! :P And yes, I totally wrote that fairy-tale myself. Aren't I awesome at it? XP