Little Red Cinderella and the Three Beanstalks

Previously...

"Come on Rikki, you're going to explain exactly what happened to Mary!" He said, jerking me in the other direction.

"No, she isn't!" Jack said firmly, yanking me back. "She obviously doesn't want to."

"How do you know?" Ezu growled, tugging on my arm firmly.

"Didn't you see? She obviously tried to run when she saw you coming at her. What did you do to her?" Jack countered, pulling me back.

"Shut up! I didn't touch her like that! I'd NEVER-" Ezu began, with even more force than before. He looked beyond mad, and he gave a final wrench, finally freeing me form this painful game of tug-of-war. However, he never finished his statement, because at that moment, a leg came flying out of nowhere and kicked Ezu squarely in his unmentionables.

He gave a little shriek and immediately dropped my arm, grabbing at his nether regions. He slumped to the ground, ashen faced, and I looked around wildly for his attacker.

Mary had managed to sidle up to us while Jack and Ezu fought over me, and took her chance to plant one of Ezu. She glared at his writhing figure with all the hate she could muster.

"Don't you ever come near me again, do you hear me, Ezu? Or there'll be more where that came from!" She squeaked, her voice high with strain. She spun on her heel, her dress flaring widely with the ferocity of her turn, and she marched off, leaving Ezu crumpled in the dirt, me thoroughly confused, and Jack slack jawed with amazement.
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I wanted to go after her, I truly did. Not to torment her or reprimand her, no. Strangely enough, I wanted to comfort her. Sometime during her tirade, my previous, rather unfair and biased, opinion of her had fallen away, and I had seen the situation clearly, through her eyes, for the first time.

I winced inwardly as I remembered the state Ezu and I had been in when she had walked in on us, and I didn't blame her for jumping to conclusions. And, disregarding any feeling I may or may not possibly maybe sort of kind of not really have for Ezu, it was none of my business whether he had a million girlfriends, let alone one; and, in a completely accidental, round-about way, this whole mess was sort of a little almost somewhat my fault.

Maybe.

But the point was, I wanted to go an apologize to her, and explain what really happened, and how it wasn't Ezu's fault at all....Well, maybe a little. But she didn't have to be so hard on him.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to take two steps before Ezu made it plainly clear he had other plans for me, and they didn't involve making amends with his heartbroken girlfriend.

Right as I took my first step, Ezu's hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed the edge of my cotton dress-- which, I suddenly remembered, I was still wearing. This in turn triggered another half formed memory, something that lurked on the edge of my mind tantalizingly, something that seemed to be very important, but I couldn't quite place it...

I almost had it there for a moment, but I was broken out of my reverie my Ezu grunting and punching me on my leg.

I gave a little shriek of pain and tried to hop away from him, but, unfortunately, he was still clutching my dress in his vise-like grip. I stumbled and nearly fell, but Jack, as usual, saved me from an abrupt and painful meeting with the ground, steadying me once again.

"Good God, are you just going to stand there and gawk at me or what?" Ezu hissed through clenched teeth, trying to rise unsteadily.

"Yes." Jack said coldly, but I drowned him out with my own squeak of guilt, and I pried myself away from Jack, who, though it may have been my imagination, seemed to have been holding onto my arm rather possessively. I dropped to the ground and grabbed Ezu by the hands, and hauled him to his feet. He detached himself from me with perhaps a little more force than necessary and grimaced, tenderly placing his hands over his loins.

I politely averted my eyes and cleared my throat.

"What?" Ezu snapped at me.

"You're naked." I replied.

"So?" Ezu half growled, as if daring me to contradict him.

"So people are watching." I forged bravely, if stupidly, on.

"I don't care." Ezu grumbled, glaring at me steadily. Jack, who had until now hovered silently just behind me, placed a hand on my shoulder and pulled me back, away from the shivering, ill-tempered boy.

"Look Rikki, obviously, he isn't in a very good mood." Understatement of the year. "And, if he insists on taking out his temper on you when you didn't even do anything, then I think we should go." Jack said, sounding as if he was trying very hard not to shout, and he pulled me backwards again as he started back up.

Some emotion flickered in Ezu's mismatched eyes, but it was gone so quickly I couldn't tell what it had been.

"What are you, her father? She's a big girl, she can make her own decisions." Ezu sneered, reaching out a hand to grab me. "Come on Rikki. Wasn't there something you wanted me to do with you? Some mission or something?"

"Hey hey hey!" Jack protested, swinging me out of Ezu's reach suddenly, so there was nothing between the two boys except for the nearly palpable tension. "I think you've made it quite clear what your feelings for Rikki are. And she obviously doesn't want to go with you. So I suggest you go back to where ever the hell you came from and leave her alone." Jack demanded, his voice rising. Ezu clenched his fists, and his bare chest swelled with anger. Though he was a good six inches shorter than Jack, he was a good deal more muscled, and his shirtless state made this very apparent.

"You have no idea what my feelings for Rikki are, and even if you did, it would be none of your God damned business. For your information, Rikki and I happen to be quite close, and we have a very important job to do, so I suggest you run back to your little farm and poor sick mother, and see if you can at least get a good burger out of that excuse for a cow." I've never seen anyone explode before, but if I had, I'm sure those final seconds before the big kablam, they'd have looked an awful lot like Jack did just then.

I had been watching the exchange between the two boys for some time with increasing incredulity. Here these two bozos were, pumped full of so much hot air I was surprised they didn't take off on the spot, talking about me as if I were some sort of object to be traded to the highest bidder!

This was beyond ridiculous.

"Hey, boys..." I tried to interject.

"Look, you pompous ass-"

"I'm pompous? I'm not the one selling myself like a whore to any half decent-"

"If you two could just shut up..."

"If you like your face the way it is, I'd suggest you shut your-"

"Oh really? You think you're so tough, but I've seen you-"

"Look, you're both being idiots, and I'd like to say..."

"Yeah, keep talking, see where it gets you, you son of a-"

"If you could pull your head out of your ass for a moment, maybe you could actually hear how pathetic-"

"SHUT UP OR I'LL KILL EVERYONE HERE!"

That got their attention.

Jack's and Ezu's heads whipped around to me so fast I wouldn't be surprised if they got whiplash. They were both in mid insult, and neither bothered --or more likely had the wits-- to shut their traps; so they stared at me with their mouths hanging open, like gaping, idiot fish.

I faltered for a second at the sight of their shocked looks, but I gathered myself and plowed on.

"What, did you two forget I was here or something?" I snapped. "No, don't bother to answer. I don't want to hear it." I interrupted them as they stammered for an answer. "You two are acting like idiots. Fighting over something as stupid as this! What, do you really think either of you have the right to tell me what I should do? Well, if you do, then you are sadly mistaken! For your information, I am going to go find my clothes, go find someone who knows their way around God forsaken place, and leave. And you two can stay here and bicker like children until Armageddon for all I care! But I am certainly not going to stand here and listen while the both of you fight over my fate as if it was a fucking restaurant bill!"

And with that last savory retort still ringing in their ears, I spun on my heel and marched away, not entirely sure where I was going, but anywhere that wasn't here was fine with me.