Sleeping Beauty

by Michelle

Copyright © 2003

Mohan_MA@hotmail.com

Rating: PG
Uber Setting: Sleeping Beauty
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, they belong that Mr. Whedon fellow. I just borrowed them and put them into a fairy tale. Which is also not mine. Okay, um, that sounds, er, we all gotta start somewhere right?
Distribution: Through the Looking Glass    http://www.uberwillowtara.com
The Mystic Muse    http://mysticmuse.net
Feedback: Yes, please.
Pairing: Willow/Tara

Once upon a time there lived a King and Queen. Together they reigned over a peaceful Kingdom, and their people were devoted to them, yet still they were not entirely happy. There was only one thing which they desperately wanted and that was a child. They tried everything from vows and praying to pilgrimages but to no avail.

At last, however, the Queen did give birth to a daughter. As soon as the Palace announced the event, the whole nation joined in the celebrations. Flags waved, crowds tossed up their hats and cheered and the bells were set pealing until the steeples rocked.

The King and Queen now had to decide on a name for the new Princess. This proved to be quite tricky as they wanted the name to be perfect. After discussing at length they finally came to a decision. They would call their daughter... Willow.

The next business was to hold a christening. They both agreed that it must be a magnificent one and invited all the Fairies in the land to be Godmothers to the Princess Willow. After making long enquiries and scouring high and low, they managed to find seven Fairies—for all this happened but a few hundred years ago when Fairies were already becoming scarce—and they were all more then happy to be Godmothers and each offered to bestow a gift on the young child.

After the ceremony, while the trumpets sounded and the guns boomed out from the great tower, all company returned to the Royal Palace to find a great feast awaiting them.

Just as the guests were seating themselves at the table, a door flew open and there stood an old crone, dressed in black and leaning on a crutched stick. At first everyone thought she was but a harmless old woman until before their very eyes, she changed.

"I am the Fairy Glorificus!" she growled in a terrible voice. "Why was I not invited on this special day?"

The King began to apologize profusely although it was through no fault of his that she had been overlooked. Glorificus lived at the far end of the country, in a lonely tower and no one had seen her for near 50 years. In fact, everyone believed her to be dead

It soon became obvious to everyone present that the powerful Fairy had taken deep offence at being forgotten. One of the younger Fairies, Dawnie by name, overheard Glorificus mumbling threats between her teeth. Fearing she might bestow an unlucky gift upon the Princess, Dawnie decided to make herself unseen and hid behind the tapestry close to the baby's cradle so she might undo—as far as she could—whatever the crone should bestow on the child.

Barely had she concealed herself, when the other Fairies arose and proceeded to bestow their gifts on the Princess. One promised that she should be one of the most beautiful creatures in the world; the next that she should have the vocabulary of a scholar; the third, that she should have the wit of an angel; the forth that she should have the intelligence of a mathematician; the fifth that she should dance to perfection; the sixth that she should play exquisitely on all musical instruments.

Next came the turn of Glorificus.

"This is my gift to you, Princess Willow," she announced. "I promise that one day you shall pierce your hand with a spindle and on that day you shall surely die!"

At these words the Queen fainted, falling back into her husband's arms. The room was silent but for the tears of the ladies. It was then that the young fairy stepped out from her hiding place.

"Your Royal Highnesses, your daughter shall not die thus. I do not have the power to undo wholly what this Fairy has done, but I can ease the suffering somewhat. The Princess will indeed pierce her hand with a spindle, but instead of dying, she shall only fall into a deep sleep that shall last for many, many years until her true love shall come and awake her."

The King thanked the good Fairy Dawnie for doing what she could and gave orders to close the christening festivities at once. He then ordered the Palace fireworks to be let off so as not to worry his faithful subjects who were unaware as to what had transpired inside.

After bowing from the balcony amid the banging of rockets, his Majesty retired to a private room with his Chamberlain, where he drew up the first harsh proclamation of his reign. It forbade everyone to use a spindle in spinning or even to have a spindle in their house, on pain of death. The message was marched through the land being read in every market place. The women folk were famous for their linen and this news greatly puzzled and distressed them, for how would they spin without a spindle?

The women did however, burn their spindles, or sell them to neighboring kingdoms, for they loved their monarch so. For sixteen years all spinning wheels were silent throughout the land and the little Princess Willow grew up without ever having seen one.

One day, whilst the King and Queen where absent on official business, the Princess Willow managed to find a way to hide from her governess. Being a naturally inquisitive child it didn't take her long to become entranced by a turret with a long winding staircase, and the whirring noise coming from within. As she climbed the stairs, the sound suddenly stopped, yet still the Princess continued. As she came to the top she found a woman sitting winding her distaff (the staff that held the wool). Ever curious the Princess entered the room.

"What are you doing?" Asked the Princess.

"I'm spinning, pretty one," answered the woman, who did not seem to know to whom she was talking.

"Spinning? I've never heard of that, what is it?"

"Spinning," the woman said wisely, "is spinning, or at least it was. No one is fit to keep house until she has learnt to spin."

Not one to sit idly by and watch, Willow was soon bombarding the old woman with questions and asking if she could try it, for it was not often that she was greeted with such wonders.

"Please, may I have a try? It looks easy, I bet I could figure it out, given time, and I'm a really quick study, if you tell me what to do I'll do it, no problems, It looks real pretty, what do you call this bit?"

No sooner had she grasped the spindle, than it pierced her hand. Whether through over-eagerness, or clumsiness, or even because the powerful Fairy decreed it, we only know that the Princess dropped to the floor in a swoon.

The old woman moving as quickly as her frail legs would carry her went to try and find help. It was a long time before she made her way to the servants' hall, where she found that in the absence of the King and Queen the servants were playing cards.

"What d'ya want love?" asked one of the servants, a slight figure with pale skin and blonde hair so short and so bright that in the light of day could blind a person.

The old woman, for she was out of breath, took her time in answering.

"A young maiden came to my turret. An inquisitive little thing, silky red hair, she pierced her hand on my Spindle and is now lying collapsed on the floor."

"Bloody hell!" shouted the servant as he started to run towards the turret calling for the Palace physicians as he went.

Upon reaching the turret they decided that the Princess looked like she was sleeping; yet nobody could wake her. They dashed water on her face, unlaced her bodice for fear it was too tight, they even tickled the soles of her feet but to no avail.

Meanwhile a messenger had ridden off in search of the King and Queen. When they received the news they retuned at once to the Palace. The King, through his grief remembered what the powerful fairy had foretold and though he wished it had not come to this, he ordered for his daughter to be carried to the finest apartment in the Palace, and there she would lay upon a bed embroidered with gold and silver.

To see the Princess, lying there one would be forgiven for assuming that an angel had fallen from the skies, and was sleeping after an exhausting journey. The color that still rested in her cheeks and her soft breathing told that she was not dead. The King commanded for all to leave and let her sleep in peace until the hour when she would awaken.

Now when the accident befell our Princess, the Good Fairy Dawnie was twelve thousand leagues away; but news was brought to her by another Fairy who was here, then there in a blink of an eye. It was not long before she set off to help her Goddaughter.

The King was there to greet her and promptly showed her to the Princess' chambers. Once there the Good Fairy realized what she must do. The Princess Willow would sleep for a very long time, and it would distress her so if she were to wake and find herself an orphan. With this in mind the Good Fairy touched with her wand, everything and everybody in the Palace including the black and white cat Miss Kitty. The instant they were touched they all fell asleep and would not awaken until their Mistress did.

It also happened that upon this day, one of the King's councilors had overslept and found himself late entering the Palace, thus being missed by the Good Fairy's touch. Upon entering his office he saw his secretary and all his clerks lying with their heads on their desks asleep. He decided to investigate further into the Palace and soon concluded that something had happened. Hastily he ran from the place and ordered for notices to be put up forbidding anyone to approach the castle.

These notices were unnecessary though, for within a few hours, all around, such a number of trees of all sizes grew up and such a tangle of briars and undergrowth that neither man nor beast could find passage through it. Taller and taller they grew until only the tops of the castle towers could be seen. The Fairy had done her work well and the Princess could now sleep away from prying eyes.

One day, many, many years later, the young Princess Tara happened to be riding near to the tangled forest when she saw something unusual.

"What are those towers I can see inside the forest?" She asked her escort, an older, well-presented man.

"Those?" He started, "Well, there are many different stories. Some say that it's an old castle haunted by ghosts, others that an Ogre dwells there, who catches small children and then takes them back to eat at his leisure." At this point the man took off his glasses and started to clean them on his shirt.

"An ogre?" whispered the Princess, "Surely that is not true, I mean, I-I don't feel anything nasty about this place. It f-feels peaceful. Calm. What do you think Mr. Giles?"

"Well yes" he continued, "I myself never believed such stories. Long ago I heard my father say that within the castle walls there is a most beautiful Princess, that she must lie there asleep for many, many years and that one day, she will be awakened by her true love. A kind of, destiny if you will"

Upon hearing this, the Princess Tara felt her eyes being drawn to the castle. She had a feeling within her that there was where she should be. In a move that was so smooth and so quick, Tara turned her horse towards the forest and kicked her heels. She was almost at the forests edge when her escort realized what was happening and began yelling for her to stop.

Tara felt the forest calling to her as she lowered herself from her horse. Moving slowly towards it she was surprised when the trees, the shrubs, the creepers, the briars and brambles, all unlaced themselves as if by magic and drew aside to let her pass. Something was calling to her from inside the castle walls, which she could now see, as a makeshift avenue seemed to have appeared in front of her. Unable it seemed, to stop herself; Tara started making her way forward, barely registering the calls of her attendants as the undergrowth closed up behind her.

Soon she arrived at the castle and taking a deep breath, pushed aside the vines that hung like a curtain over the gateway. As she entered the courtyard, she stood still for a moment and a startled gasp fled her lips. Every direction she looked lay straight, stiff bodies of men and beasts, at first glance seemingly all dead. Faltering but a second, Tara closed her eyes and forced herself to focus. Her courage returned as she looked around again and realized that everyone was sleeping.

Stepping around them Tara passed across a second great court paved with marble, which lead to the main doorway. Had she stopped to think about it Tara would have wondered how it was that she knew where to go, as it was, she seemed to be following where her heart was leading her!

Cautiously Tara entered the guardroom and what she saw caused her to stifle a giggle. The Guards stood in rank with shouldered muskets, each one of them asleep and snoring his best. Carrying on Tara made her way through a number of rooms, each filled with ladies and gentlemen in various poses all soundly asleep.

"I wonder what happened here?" Tara whispered to herself, almost afraid to speak out loud.

Slowly she made her way towards a heavy purple curtain and gradually drew it aside. Unable to contain a gasp this time Tara looked in amazement around what she assumed to be the Great Hall of State. In front of her was a long table and sat around was the King and his council. The Lord Chancellor slept in the act of dipping his pen into an inkpot and between the spectacles sitting on the Archbishop's nose and the spectacles on the Lord Chancellor's, a spider had spun a beautiful web.

Tiptoeing very carefully past the very august sleepers and, leaving the hall via another door, Tara came to the foot of the Grand staircase. Feeling herself drawn towards the second level, Tara started her ascent, stopping intermittently to gaze at her surroundings and comparing the palace, somewhat unconsciously, to her own.

On reaching the uppermost step, Tara again stopped. There were two corridors, one to the left and one to the right. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind, hoping for a sign of which route to take. Focusing left Tara could feel nothing other then the stillness of slumbering persons, focusing right however, Tara felt a calmness wash over her like nothing she had ever felt before. Decision made Tara began to walk along the corridor to her right.

Seeing the many doors, Tara decided to try one. Opening the door Tara found a bathroom lined with mirrors and in its midst, sunk in the floor, a huge round basin filled with bubbling water. Three steps led down to the bath, and at the head of them stood a couch, with towels, and a suit of her favorite color laid ready, delicately embroidered and complete with the daintiest of lace ruffles.

With something akin to awe on her face, Tara fingered the material. Never could she remember feeling something so smooth. Looking up Tara caught sight of herself in one of the mirrors. She had ridden far before even reaching the forest and the image before her, told that she was somewhat travel-stained from her journey through it. So, having by this time learnt to accept the strange occurrences without question, she undressed and languidly lowered herself into the warm water.

After enjoying the bath and feeling so very much cleaner, Tara decided to try the clothes that had been left, for why would the water be warm if not freshly drawn and why would the clothes be there, as this was the one room where no-one was asleep? She was not even surprised when she found that they fitted her perfectly, even the shoes might have been made to measure.

Having dressed and arranged her hair, she decided to resume her quest along the corridor. Suddenly she stopped. A great feeling of warmth enveloped her senses and she turned to open the door in front of which she stood. The chamber was all paneled with white and gold but it was not this that took her breath away.

There, on a bed with the curtains drawn wide, Tara beheld the loveliest vision she had ever seen. A Princess, maybe 1 or 2 years younger then herself, with a crown of wondrous red hair. At first glance one may be forgiven for thinking she had passed, but the soft rise and fall of her chest proved that this was not so.

Trembling, Tara sank to her knees beside the beauty's bed, and proceeded to take the girls hand in her own.

"Her skin is so soft, and warm" Tara thought to herself as she bent and touched her lips to the delicate hand that now rested within her own.

As soon as her lips touched warm skin, the spell of enchantment came to an end and the Princess began to stir.

"Frogs all gone, dragon eat them. Good dragon"

At this Tara couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh. Of all the things that had gone through her head as to what would be said, this was not one of them. The sound of the rich laughter emanating from nearby pulled the Princess Willow fully out of her slumber.

As blue eyes met green it was as though the world around them melted away into nothingness.

"I knew you'd find me" Whispered Willow, "You always find me. Although using the dragon to fly overhead that one time during hide and seek was just plain cheating and cheaters never prosper you know. It's all written down in the law under 'C', right below..."

Graceful fingers being placed over the Princesses mouth stemmed the flow of words that had been kept in for so long. Tara couldn't control her shaking hand as her fingers lightly traced Willow's lips.

The two Princesses soon found themselves moving closer to each other, their eyes never straying from the others'.

"Can I kiss you?" whispered Tara, as the gap between them got ever smaller. An almost imperceptible nod was her answer and she leaned the rest of the way in as lips met for the first time.

Pulling back slowly Tara looked at Willow who still had her eyes closed and a most breathtaking smile on her face.

"Never did I know such beauty existed." Tara said, her voice almost inaudible. "I often dreamed that one day." Her voice trailed off as she once again found herself entranced by green eyes.

"I dreamed as well." Started the Redhead, "I dreamed of you. I dreamed that one day you would come and rescue me, not from a dragon, cause you know, you flew one, but from a mean old troll who ate babies and. Do you have a dragon?"

"A d-dragon?" Tara asked, somewhat amused by the question. "No, um, I have a horse though. She's called wings and when I ride, I sometimes feel like I'm flying!"

"A horse?" Willow squeaked "As in really big arm eating pony?"

Tara was about to laugh at this, but the look of fear in Willow's eyes instead made her want to comfort the redhead.

"Well, W-Wings won't hurt anyone. She may be a big pony, but she uh, she h-has an aversion to meat. An allergy. S-She's a strict vegetarian"

The look of relief that flooded across Willow's face made Tara smile and it was then that she vowed to herself that she would never let anyone hurt the vision sitting in front of her.

The two Princesses conversed for four full hours, yet still they had so much to say. As they were talking the rest of the Palace had awaked with the Princess. In the Great Hall the King opened his eyes and asked the Lord Chancellor to read his last sentence over again a little more distinctly. The Lord Chancellor, dipping his quill into the now dry inkpot, asked the Archbishop in a whisper how many t's there were in "regrettable." The Archbishop, taking a pinch of snuff that had long turned to dust, answered with an almighty sneeze, which in turn was drowned out by the striking of all the clocks in the palace, For they had a lot of lost time to make up for.

The Queen, who had fallen asleep whilst discussing with her maids-of-honor the right shade of mourning for a Royal in a trance, very soon lost her patience and sent one of her attendants with word to the kitchens, that she was hungry.

The Princess Tara heard the commotion of Palace life resuming and helped the Princess Willow to rise. Despite everything that she had seen this day, nothing could have prepared Tara for the sight and she was once again struck speechless.

As she realized what was about to occur, Tara felt her shyness creep in and slowly lowered her head allowing her loose hair to fall forward and cover her lightly blushing face. She looked up as she felt a gentle hand come to rest on her cheek and her hair placed lovingly behind her ear.

"Please. Don't hide from me, I've been hidden for too long" Willow whispered

"I found you." Tara replied, "As you said. I will always find you!"

Taking each other by the hand, they walked to where Willow knew her parents would be waiting.

As they entered the Great Hall, all sound ceased around them. Tara once again felt her cheeks redden, as she was semi pulled towards the King and Queen.

Tears were shed as the Princess hugged her parents and Tara even felt her own eyes welling up with emotion. She was surprised when the King turned to her and pulled her into a warm embrace.

"My Dear. We can not convey how happy we are that you are here," expressed the King causing Tara's cheeks to redden further.

"Father!" interrupted Willow reclaiming the blonde's hand, "If you are half as happy as I am, then you are truly happy indeed" Turning to Tara she continued, "Even though we met but a few hours ago, you already hold my heart." Carefully she raised their joined hands and placed a soft kiss upon the fingers wound within her own.

Deciding that now was the time for laughter and merriment, the Queen called out to the Pageboys standing at the far end of the Hall. The young boys dressed in their finest opened the doors to reveal a great dining room lined with mirrors and table laden with a great feast. Violins and hautboys' (an Oboe to you and I) Played music that hadn't been heard for near to a century, yet still it was excellent.

The two Princesses were too immersed in each other to think or worry about anything else. Therefore Princess Tara could be forgiven for forgetting that her attendants must have ridden back to her Palace by now to tell her parents what had occurred. The King however had an uncanny habit of remembering details, especially when another person's well-being was in question. Before dinner, whilst everyone was making his or her way into the hall, he had dispatched a messenger to carry word that Princess Tara was safe.

The messenger had left immediately and found that the undergrowth parted before him, much as it had for the Princess. As he reached the edge of the forest, he found a search party attempting in vain to break through the dense barrier. The Princess's father standing was standing to one side strongly encouraging them.

As soon as the message was relayed the King began trembling in relief, for he truly believed his only daughter to be lost to him. And so he was escorted into the dining room of the Palace where he saw the unmistakable happiness on his daughter's face and embraced both her and the Princess Willow.

"I found her Daddy." Whispered Tara as the old man wrapped her in another hug. "The o-one I've been l-looking for." She paused and looked him in the eye. "I love her!"

Her father could see the sincerity in her eyes and turned to speak to the King.

"I am an old man," he started, "I have reigned quite long enough I feel, and now I find I care about little, other then to see my daughter happy."

"I think I can promise you that," said Willow's father, smiling as his gaze moved towards where the girls where once again lost in each other. "I have dreamed long enough and am too old for ambitions, what matters ruling to either of us, when we can see our daughters reigning together?"

And so it was agreed, then and there, the two Princesses would reign together. The Archbishop even oversaw a ceremony for the two that very day. The next morning Princess Tara introduced her Willow to Wings and the two rode into the city where the populace greeted them warmly. Here they spent the rest of their lives, reigning in prosperity and honor. Living together, Happily. Ever. After.

The End