Little Red Cinderella and the Three Beanstalks

Previously...

DONG

"It's midnight!" I screamed. "Hurry!" The Prince dropped to his knees before the grave, surrounded by pumpkins.

DONG

"Which one is it?" He shouted.

DONG

"The one on the grave! Right there, right in the middle! The big one!" I pointed frantically. But even as he reached out for the round, white pumpkin beside the gravestone, the Step Mother flew in a flurry at him, her dress billowing out behind her like a dark cape, her red mouth open wide in a furious shriek, her eyes flashing and wild.

DONG

Whatever magic she has gotten crackled at her fingertips, and I could see it coursing through the veins on her arms, which had turned black and throbbing. The Wicked Step Mother from the story--from the ball we had just left, even, was gone. This creature was some sort of monster, driven wild by whatever forces had brought me here, had enchanted the princesses, had brought the sorceress back and warped the fairy tales. This woman was going to Kill the Prince if she could, I could see that.

DONG

"Prince!" I shouted. He whirled around to look at me, caught sight of the Step Mother, and looked as if he was about to lose his lunch. "Here!" I caught his attention again, and lobbed the sword at him.

DONG

That was what, five chimes? Six? Midnight was almost over. Cinderella's time was almost up. And if hers was, then so was all of ours. "Go Prince! Go!"

DONG

My aim was poor, and my throw weak. It landed two meters to his right, and he had to launch himself away from the grave to reach it.

DONG

The Step Mother was almost upon him now, but his perfectly manicured had closed around the hilt of the sword just in time.

DONG

"Kill her! Kill her! Hurry!" I screamed. I was too far away to do anything else, there was no way I would reach her before she was upon him, and even if I could, what could I stop her with?

DONG

The Prince used the sword to push himself to his feet and he leaped back towards the grave and Cinderella's pumpkin, just as the Step Mother reached the same spot.

DONG

"It's the last chime! Now!" I screamed. The Prince lifted the sword high into the air, the moonlight glinting off the silver blade, and he brought it down with lightning speed, just as the final bell tolled Midnight.

DONG!

And he rent the pumpkin in two.

*********************************************************************************

A moment of silence fell over all of us. Even the crackling black veins of magic twitching through the electric air seemed to be hushed, withdrawing slightly as if afraid of what was going to happen. The Prince stood frozen over the halved pumpkin, the tip of his sword embedded deep into the earth from the force of his thrust. In that moment, his cheeks flushed, eyes flashing, and once perfectly coiffed hair hanging in his eyes, he looked every inch of the heroic prince of tales of old, come to rescue his lady love. Except for the fact that he had just stabbed her in half, anyways.

Then, as abruptly as the hush had overcome us, the Step mother suddenly erupted into a shrieking rage, and, casting her billowing skirts about her like a mad bat, rushed in a whirlwind of screaming black magic at the Prince, her clawed hands outstretched and grasping for his throat. He gave a cry and fell back, drawing the blade of the sword, which he still clutched tightly in his hand, out of the oozing mess that had been Cinderella.

Even as he did so however, a fundamental change could be felt in the air. Suddenly the mad desperateness seemed to be drained from the Step Mother and her powers, and she was sent plummeting to the ground, her spiked black lightning stabbing harmlessly into the earth all around her. From the center of the destroyed pumpkin, something huge and white erupted, spreading out into the air above out heads like a white phoenix rising from the gravestones, its wings outstretched. The Prince fell backwards, his eyes wide and transfixed on the figure. I wasn't in a much better state myself--my mouth was hanging open, and I was thankful I was already on the ground, because I probably would have tripped over a headstone if I had been on my feet. After a few dumbstruck seconds, the blinding white light faded, leaving us blinking uselessly through the gloom of the night to see the figure standing before us.

It was Cinderella. Of course it was, who else would it have been? She stood resplendent in a shimmering white gown, almost ghostlike, surrounded as she was by the rows and rows of headstones. She was beautiful, even more so than the miller's daughter had been. Golden hair piled atop her head in perfect curls; wide blue eyes framed by thick, long lashes; rosy cheeks and a plump, cherubic pink mouth. Oh yes, she and the Prince would get along very well together.

Her perfect features were currently contorted in bemused expression, and the cursory glances she cast at the Step Mother, laying in a dark heap at her feet; the Prince, laying in a shell shocked heap on the other side; me, laying in a slightly envious heap some twenty feet away; and Alfred, poking his head tentatively up over a headstone to see what was going on, didn't seem to help clear things up for her in the slightest.

"What...?" She began, in a sweet, musical voice. She glanced again down at the witch. "Stepmother?" she said. The Prince seemed to gather what little was left of his reserve and struggled to his feet. He bounded forwards and pulled Cindy away from our would-be-killer.

"Keep back," he warned.

"Prince?" Cinderella said, looking blankly up at him. I sincerely hoped she was only this slow on the uptake because she'd spent the last few days as a fruit. I too got shakily to my feet.

"No, I think it's fine," I said to the Prince, eyeing the once murderous creature carefully. She was curled up into a little ball, and seemed to have been drained of whatever powers had possessed her. She was stirring, but only a little, and every once in a while a groan would escape her. "Unless I'm very mistaken," I said, trying to brush the worst of the dirt off of myself, "Her powers have been broken. It's past midnight, and Cinderella is herself again. She's just a bitter old woman again."

Speaking of bitter old women...

"Ezu!" I gasped. I spun on my heel and took off down the rows of headstones, searching the shadowy ground for any sign of him. Finally, after what felt like an age, I spotted a dark figure slumped against a gravestone, silent and unmoving. "Ezu!" I shouted again, and I threw myself onto him. I was hoping he'd snarl in pain, and quip something snarky about how as usual my misguided affection was only causing him even more pain, but no. He didn't say a word, or even groan in discomfort as I draped myself over him. "Ezu, come on, get up!" I pleaded, rolling him over so his face wasn't pressed into the dirt. His head lolled to the side limply and his mouth hung slightly open, but his eyes were closed. Closed eyes meant he wasn't dead, right?

"Ezu! Ezu, wake up!" I shook him frantically, in another one of my less wise decisions of the night. "We did it, we saved Cinderella! we were in time, now wake up!" Tears welled up hot and unbidden, turning Ezu's face into a featureless blur as they threatened to spill out over my cheeks. "You have to wake up..." I struggled to my feet, and hurried over to where we had left our backpacks. Somewhere... Ah! There it was!

I hastened back to Ezu's side with the little bottle and uncorked it, and then carefully poured the entire thing into his open mouth, only spilling about half of it down his shirt front with my shaking hands.

Nothing. Not so much as a flutter of an eyelid. Fat tears began to cut shiny paths through my liberally applied rogue. But then-

A cough, a splutter, and suddenly Ezu was spasming and choking so violently it sent me falling backwards onto my rear end with a little shriek. I grabbed him by the collar of his dress and hauled him into a sitting position just in time for him to violently projectile vomit what was probably the several dozen pig-in-a-blankets he had scarfed down at the ball. I only just dodged in time.

"Ezu!" I screamed again, and I threw my arms around his neck--a little gingerly, considering the vomit everywhere and all.

"Why do I feel like I was just mauled by a giant, and why do I suspect that it's your fault?" he groaned. "And why does my mouth taste like death and pork?"

"I thought you were deeaad!" I said, sobbing openly.

"Of course I'm not dead," Ezu frowned, his eyes only slightly glazed. "Concussed? Most definitely. Brain damaged? Probably. Speaking of which, could you please tone it down?" He reached up to wincingly prod his head. His hand came away covered in blood. "Ah. That's probably not good."

While he was busy rambling, I had stifled my tear somewhat. I didn't bother being embarrassed, I was too tired.

"Oh lord Rikki, are you--are you crying?" he said, finally deigning to notice me.

"No," I lied, wiping my eyes.

"Look, I'm fine, just a little roughed up is all. Really, I'm alright, I-"

"Shut up," I smiled weakly, and punched him in the arm. He winced.

"Ah. Still sore. Bar fight, remember?"

"Right." I wiped my eyes.

"So... uh... Cinderella, did we...?"

"Oh!" I leapt to my feet, finally having remembered the entire reason for our dangerous escapades in the first place . "Oh right, yeah, we did! The Prince! Cinderella! The Stepmother!" I stumbled away from Ezu, nearly tripping over my own feet in my haste, my legs still unusually shaky from the shock of Ezu's supposed death. The Prince was holding a shaken Cinderella in his arms, trying to describe to her what had happened--though he was having a difficult time of it, seeing as he only knew bits and pieces of the story himself. I couldn't help but notice he made his role in the night's adventures sound somewhat more impressive than they really were. I'm pretty positive that he left out the part about getting hit over the head with a vase entirely.

The Stepmother was still on the ground, but even as I neared the Prince and Cinderella, she began to stir.

"Hey!" I shouted, picking up my pace and starting to run towards the lovestruck couple, who seemed to have eyes only for each other. "Pay attention, you idiots!" I stooped and grabbed a cast aside sword from the ground as I ran through the rows of headstones, and had it pointed at the Stepmother's throat before she could so much as throw anyone a dirty look. That didn't prevent her from throwing me a glare that practically singed my eyebrows off after the fact, however. "Come on now, you brought this on yourself," I pointed out. "If I see you twitch so much as a pinky finger, I'll shish-kabob you faster than you can say happily ever after. And don't doubt me either, this 'stupid little girl' has had one hell of a night."

Someone whistled. "Remind me not to get in your way again," Ezu said, coming up behind me. "So, what are we going to do with her?"

"We can't hurt her!" Cinderella cried from the safety of Charming's arms.

"I'm pretty sure I can," I replied, glaring back down at the woman who has been pretty intent on hurting all of us just a few minutes before. "I may be a little squeamish, but I think I can make an exception."

"She's my stepmother! She may have done terrible things, but she didn't mean it! Please, show her mercy!" Cinderella pleaded. I grit my teeth, but knew what had to be done.

"Ah, blast these ridiculous rules!" I snapped.

"What rules?" Ezu asked, bemused.

"Mercy and honor, and being the better person, and not sinking to the villain's level and all that. Cindy's right, and loathe as I am to admit it. She'll have to be punished some other way."

"But how?"

"I think that's for me to decide," the Prince cut in. "I distinctly remember her attempting to kill me, so this becomes a royal issue. And though she committed an act of treason, which is usually punishable by death, my darling Cinderella doesn't wish for that, and so I can't allow it. But I'm sure I can find another suitable punishment for her crimes. Twenty years of being the Royal Horse Manure Collector, or some such endeavor. Oh, it won't be too bad," he added with a rather evil grin, noticing the look of horror spreading across the Stepmother's face, "I'll allow you the company of your daughters as well, so you shan't be all alone."

"Oh lord," the Stepmother groaned, as if that only made it worse. Which it probably did.

"Now come, let's go back to the Castle. I'm sure I've been missed by now, and I do have to announce my choice for my Bride, after all," the Prince continued, smiling down at Cinderella, who beamed back up at him. I resisted making a petty face at them, with only minor difficulty.

"Yeah, and we should probably go rescue Jack," Ezu added. "He's bound to have been caught and thrown in the dungeons by now."

"Oh, and Alfred!" I cried, remembering our furry friend.

"I'm here," came his rough voice, and we turned to see him waddling towards us, rubbing his behind and making an expression that I assumed was a painful wince. "Goodness, I'm going to be feeling this tomorrow!" I shoved my sword into Ezu's hands, and rushed towards to the wolf. I threw my arms around his neck, and gave him the biggest hug I could.

"You saved my life, Alfred! You were so brave! I owe you my life, how can I possibly repay you?"

"A nice cup of tea would be a good start," he replied, patting me on the head with a massive paw.

"This... wolf; he's your friend?" the Prince asked, a little suspiciously.

"Yes," I said defensively, detaching myself from Alfred and standing protectively in front of him, my arms outstretched. "And if it weren't for him, we would have never even made it to the Kingdom in time, let alone rescue Cinderella!"

"Then I suppose he deserves a place of honor at the Ball as well," the Prince conceded with a small bow at the wolf.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Alfred replied in his refined tone, bowing back.

"A wolf, a royal guest at a Palace," Ezu said, for once not in his usual contemptuous tone. "There's a first time for everything, I guess. That's Rikki for you, making history every where she goes."

"Thank you, Ezu," I replied, beaming at him and actually swelling with pride a little.

"Impressive, really, since all of these wonderful results always seem to come from you completely messing everything up in the first place and nearly getting everyone killed," he continued, sweetly. I immediately deflated.

"Thank you, Ezu," I growled.

"You're quite welcome."

Our motley group didn't linger in the grave yard much longer. We only paused to collect our scattered objects--and find a terrified fairy godmother hiding in a hallow tree, who only accepted out thanks and apologies with repeated threats to appeal to the Responsible Use of Magic Committee before vanishing in a puff of sparkly dust--before we set off back towards the Castle' the Prince, who still looked characteristically dashing, if a little disheveled, and a radiant Cinderella proudly in the lead; Alfred, with the Stepmother, her hands bound behind her back, following on their heels, and Ezu and I bringing up the rear, the both of us sweaty and dirty and still wearing our drooping dresses. We limped along some ways behind the rest of the group, in mutual, exhausted silence, walking close enough together to be touching. As we walked, Ezu rummaged in his rucksack until he pulled out a pair of pants and his last clean shirt.

"So that's twice now I've had to dress up as a woman on your account," he grunted, trying to pull on the pants beneath his dress as we followed. "I think you owe me." He finally got his pants up properly, and tore off the dress, hurling it to the dirt at the side of the road with vindictive pleasure. I resolutely didn't so much as glance at his bare chest. He pulled on his shirt, and then set about trying to wipe off the make up. He only succeeded in smearing it even more. I sighed and pulled him towards me, rubbing the worst of the lipstick and rogue away.

"I dunno, I think we're pretty even, considering the emotional roller coaster you put the both of us on every day."

"What's a roller coaster?"

"If anything, you owe me for scaring me so badly back there. I thought you were dead."

"Me? Die? Don't be ridiculous," Ezu scoffed. "I can't die; not when I have your clumsy butt to look after."

"Yeah, cause you're one heck of a knight in shining armor," I scoffed back, rolling my eyes. "That's the best you're gonna get, I don't think this stuff is coming off without a fight."

"A knight? Me?" Ezu wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Don't insult me. I'm no knight, and I'm no Prince Charming."

"Even the thought makes me shudder."

"I'm more like your nanny. You know, to keep you from hurting yourself."

"Gee, thanks. You're too kind."

"You should be grateful. You know, I could have left you in that stump back there when we met."

"Somehow that seems like a better option every passing day."

"You know that's a lie."

"Could have fooled me."

"The point is, you owe me," Ezu insisted, trying to get our derailed conversation back on track.

"And what, pray tell, do I owe you?" I asked, eyebrows raised.

He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get a word out, we suddenly came to an abrupt halted; forced to stop by walking directly into the very solid form of Alfred, who had paused. We looked up, as saw that while we had been engrossed in our conversation, we had arrived at the castle gates. The three of us--Alfred, Ezu, and I--exchanged a look, but the Prince and Cinderella continued marching right up the palace steps, so we had little choice but to followed, despite the slight qualms we all felt by the odd reception we were sure to receive.

Sure enough, the moment the Prince and the shining Cinderella entered the Castle doors, all eyes turned to us. A great gasp rose from the crowd, and the King and Queen both gave out cries of surprise. They began to rush forwards, but immediately stumbled to a stop when they caught sight of Alfred, leading a bound and surly Stepmother, and Ezu and myself, coming up behind the royal couple. The King gave a shout of alarm and began to order the Guards to attack, but the Prince stopped them with an imperial wave.

"No, dear father, hold your arms; these... erm..." he cast a look at our disheveled selves. We grinned widely back. "These... good fellows come bearing my highest regards and every honor. They have brought to light a sordid plot by this wicked woman here," he motioned to the Stepmother, who tried to draw herself up proudly, but immediately cowered back as Alfred uttered a low, threatening growl, "to imprison this lovely young woman who stand so radiantly before you all, and to seize control of the Kingdom through a conspired union between myself and her most shameful daughters."

The Step sisters, who, at the sight of their mother captive had began to hasten forwards, now immediately tried to slink back into the mass of dumbstruck party goers. Unfortunately for them, they had made it quite obvious through out the course of the night whose daughters they were, and the disgusted crowd shoved them back out of their midst, leaving the girls ostracized and alone in the empty center of the ballroom.

"Because of the valiant efforts of these fine, brave souls, the Kingdom was saved, and so was this Lady, the beautiful Cinderella, who I am proud to announce is the woman I have decided to take as my wife."

At the end of the Prince's speech, the room burst into applause. I smiled and waved at the crowd, trying not to think of what my hair looked like. Ezu made a facial expression I thought was supposed to be a smile, but look rather painful so I suppose it could have been indigestion, and took a small step behind me. It didn't help much, since he was several inches taller than I was.

"Not a fan of crowds?" I muttered.

"No. And the less people who can recognize my face in a line-up, the better," he replied under his breath.

"It's when you say things like that that I feel so very comfortable knowing I've got you at my back!" I said, only a tad sarcastically. "Ahem," I coughed, slightly louder, so the Prince could hear. "And Jack? Er, Jackie?"

"Ah," The Prince said, silencing the cheering crowd. "And how could we forget the lovely lady who made quite a scene earlier tonight, Lady Jackie. The one who er, stole your crown, Father," he added, noticing the King's and crowd's blank looks. "What a clever and noble ruse by these Heroes, willing to partake in self sacrifice to go to any cost to ensure the prosperity of this Kingdom!"

"He makes us sound pretty good," I whispered to Ezu.

"A Prince who's good for something, who knew?" he hissed back.

"Ah, yes that... erm... perhaps 'lady' isn't quite the word..." The King said, frowning slightly. "Guards, go collect the prisoner--er, hero." A group of guards disappeared through a door at the end of the ballroom, only to reappear not long later with a very upset looking Jack, de-wigged and indignant, in their grasps.

"Jack!" I called, waving at him and standing on my tiptoes. He spotted us, glanced at Cinderella, then at the Stepmother, and a huge smile broke over his face and he gave us a thumbs up sign.

"Aside from saving the kingdom itself, they also saved my own life," the Prince went on, kindly neglecting to add that we were the ones who had put it in danger in the first place, "Especially this unlikely fellow here," he cast an uncertain glance at the wolf.

"Alfred," he muttered quietly.

"Alfred!" the Prince completed, all smiles. "Who proves to show that it is truly what is on the inside that counts, and that heroes can come from anywhere and be anyone, no matter who you are!"

"Even a horrid wolf like me," he chuckled quietly, only loud enough for me and Ezu to catch. "I suppose we're even, Rikki. This little adventure had probably done more good for the image of Wolves everywhere than all my years of protesting."

"And so, I would like to take this moment, with all of you as my witnesses, to bestow upon these Heroes the highest honor I can." The Prince detached himself from Cinderella, and drew his sword. Alfred and Ezu both took a sudden alarmed step back, before relaxing."Come forwards."

I was the first to go, being the most confident in the Prince's ability to not stab me to death. I knelt at his feet, bowing my head respectfully. "Rikki Collins,", I muttered helpfully under my breath.

"I knight thee, Lady Rikki Collins." He pressed the flat side of the blade gently on both of my shoulders. "Rise."

Ezu was next. He edged forwards uneasily, and it took him nearly a full minute to force himself to kneel before the Prince. As Charming's sword neared Ezu's head, he flinched away from it. "I knight thee Sir Ezu... Eriksson. Rise."

Then Alfred, who smiled the happiest, yet most unsettling smile I'd ever seen, as he was dubbed "Sir Alfred Wolf"; and finally Jack, who was ushered to the front of the ballroom, and jealously commented on Ezu's fortunate change of clothes after he was knighted "Sir Jack Robinsson". To each of us a round of thunderous applause was awarded, and I have to admit, it was one of the best experiences I'd had so far in this crazy place. Finally we were getting a little credit for all our hard work, and it felt long overdue.

The Prince turned back to the crowd and clapped his hands imperiously. "Guards!" he called. "Take these traitors away!" A dozen armed guards hastened forwards and collected a fuming Stepmother and her two sobbing daughters.

"No! This isn't fair!" the Stepmother tried to shriek over the boos and hisses of the crowd, but her words were barely audible. "You can't do this to me! I almost had everything! No, no, no! You'll all pay for this, I swear!" The trio was led away despite their protesting, and taken to where ever Jack had been released from. The mass of people unleashed a mighty cheer again.

"Now isn't this supposed to be a Ball?" The Prince beamed over the crowd, and the musicians picked their instruments back up hurriedly. The Prince turned to Cinderella. "May I have this dance, my lady?" he asked her, bowing low at the waist and holding his hand out to her. She giggled and took it, a pink blush creeping over her cheeks. She took a quick step towards him, but in her eagerness, her shoe slipped off her dainty foot. It was easy to see why; if I had to wear a pair of crystalline glass pumps, I'd probably coat the inside with tree sap to keep them from sliding off. How Cindy had made the trek through the graveyard and across the town without loosing one I'll never know. Fortunately, her Prince was here to rescue her from this fashion faux pas. He knelt down on one knee, and picked up the glass slipper. While every eye in the Palace was riveted on the pair of them, he gently took hold of Cinderella's ankle, lifted her foot, and slid the shoe back on it. The excitable crowd was sent into a tizzy yet again. With effortless grace, they glided to the center of the ballroom and began to dance, with eyes only for each other.

The music swelled up again, and with all right with the world, the rest of the joyous crowd began to dance. Only a few of the young women seemed to upset by the Prince's declared marriage to Cinderella to take part in the festivities, and the rest seemed content enough with the Prince showy spectacle to be infected by the air of celebration that settled over the group. I beamed at Jack, Ezu, and Alfred.

"Well, if I may say so, that went pretty darned well!" I congratulated the group.

"Yeah, one princess down, three to go," Jack said, happily.

"With only one arrest, three near death experiences, and a millisecond away from midnight to spare to show for it! Oh, and only six more days to do it all over again," Ezu added, throwing his customary dash of bleak realism into the mix. "Plus an all powerful witch at the end of it all to face."

"We'll deal with that when it comes. If I say so myself, we're starting to get this whole princess rescuing thing down pretty well!" I said. "So Alfred, what are you going to go after this?" I asked the wolf. "You can come with us if you want, we could use your help."

"Thank you for the offer, but I think I might stay here for a while," he said, cocking his furry head to the side. "On our way back, the Prince and I had a talk, and he offered to let me stay here in the Palace and help create a Sentient Animal Resources Department. I believe I can get quite a bit of traction for my cause here, now that I've gained a foothold in the citizen's good books. I must say it will be nice not to be run out of town for a while. Besides, as lovely as this adventure was, I must admit I'm not too terribly eager to face something like that again. Even wolves have their limits."

"Well that's absolutely wonderful," I said, smiling up at him. "After everything you helped us with, it's the least you deserve. I have to admit, I'm going to miss you. You helped keep things a little more sane around here."

"There's no need to miss me, Lady Rikki. I'm sure we'll see one another before very long," Alfred replied, bowing low.

"I certainly hope so," I said, curtsying back.

"You know, before you go, Alfred," Jack cut in, his eyes lighting up. "I was talking to an enterprising young merchant earlier this night, and I think he'd be very interested in some of your design for a... what was it? An 'appetite suppressant' to curb the desire to eat wayward travelers in wolves?"

"Oh yes, and the best part it, it could also be given to Witches to help them cope with their own struggles of eating lost children in woods, or any number of other folks suffering from an unfortunate compulsion to consume meals that complain about being eaten."

The pair of them wandered off, discussing business practices and economic influences, and Ezu and I were left alone--or as alone as we could get in a crowded ball room. We looked at each other. Ezu shrugged, and jerked his thumb towards the floor, where countless couples spun by.

"So, uh, wanna dance?"

"What?" I snorted.

"Dance. We look pretty ridiculous just standing here by ourselves."

"Ezu, I'm not going to dance with you."

"Look, I know you probably dance like a drunken gnome, but it's okay, I'll lead."

"We are not dancing."

"Oh come on, you still owe me. Besides, I never got a chance to dance with you earlier. I finally can now. This'll probably be our last chance, in fact."

"No way."

"Why not?"

That one stumped me. "Why?" I repeated. "W-well, look at me! I'm a mess; I'm exhausted physically and emotionally; you're way too close on the mark about my dancing skills; I-"

"You're fine, Rikki. Better than fine, in fact," Ezu interrupted me. He took a sudden step towards me, closing the already small gap between us. He ran a hand gently through my hair, pulling out a stray twig from the knot of tangled curls. "Sure, you're a little... messy, but I've never seen you more... you. You're practically glowing."

I flushed, and refused to meet his gaze. "I have to go back, you know," I muttered, half hoping my words were too quiet for Ezu to hear. He caught them, however. What did I expect?

"Back where?"

"Back home. After all this is over."

Ezu was silent for a while. "Then that's all the more reason to seize the moment now," he finally said, holding his hand out to me.

I sighed. "That's terrible logic," I replied, frowning as I took his hand in mine. He grinned at me. I grinned back. We danced for the rest of the night, and I was just as terrible as Ezu predicted.