The Bunny's Story
[part 1]
by Meatball Head & Roslyn

 
 

Title: Fairy Tale
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Authors: Meatball-Head & Roslyn
Disclaimer: Take a wild guess


***

Serena hopped on her bed enthusiastically next to Rini and Darien, on the side. Her parents were gone for the week, and the two were trying to make Rini fall asleep with nothing else but a romantic, classical fairy tale. Staring at the closed window with rain pelting it harshly, Serena grabbed her favorite storybook from the shelf. "Okay!

Let's begin," Serena bubbled excitedly, flipping a book open, she began reading, "Once upon a time-"

"No, No, NO!" Rini shouted. "You've read that book at least a trillion times!" Serena rolled her eyes.

"Well, it's a great story!"

"I'm so sick of it! Can't you read a different book?" Serena sighed, "I don't feel like getting back up again."

Darien snapped his fingers, "Then we'll make up a story to tell you!" he replied.

"WHAT?!" Rini and Serena shouted in unison.

"You can't mean that! Serena can't tell her own stories!"

Rini complained. Serena grunted.

"Fine, I'll take that challenge!"

"But-" Rini started.

"DO YOU WANT A STORY OR NOT!" Serena yelled.

"There. Now let's see...Once upon a time, there lived a wealthy couple, who had a young child named Serena."

"HEY! Why does this story have YOU in it? That ruins the whole story!" Rini interrupted.

Serena glared at the spore menacingly. "Let's see you try."

She spat. Darien cut them off.

"Rini, just listen to her, you don't even know if you'll like it or not." Serena smiled. "Thank you, ahem...like I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, there was a girl named Serena. She lived happily with her kind and caring mother and father. But these days of happiness didn't last. Tragedy struck when all of a sudden, her mother passed away. Serena and her father were in grief, but soon after, the father married another woman, Lady Beryl, so Serena would still have a mother. Beryl had two daughters, Emerald and Zoicyte.

They looked kind and pretty at first, but behind the father's back, they would taunt and tease Serena. Before Serena could even do anything about it, her father woefully passed away as well, leaving Serena under the influence of Lady Beryl. But this time it was worse.

They treated Serena like a slave, taking all her belongings, replacing her gowns with inadequate rags and patches sewn together carelessly, forcing her to move to the attic, and made her serve them as a house maiden, doing all the chores and duties. She was very young then, but she got used to it, and didn't mind as much, though she did often dream that she lived a happy life."

"SERENA! This is Cinderella with your name!" Rini yelled.

Serena grinned sheepishly. "Well, I love that story, it's so romantic."

"You promised me a made-up story!" Rini complained.

"Fine, then you'll get one" Darien cut in, thinking for a second, Darien continued the story. "Okay, let's see...Serena lived the same way for years, until she matured. She lived in total isolation from most of the world, and had permanently built a wall around her heart to keep emotions from entering..."

***

"Serena!" Emerald yelled. "You forgot to clean my room!"

"And you need to fetch some water from the well. After that you can cook us dinner." Zoicyte added. Nodding, Serena ran off to fulfill her duties. She didn't mind at all, going to the nearby gardens to fetch some water. She loved the flowers grown there, and often snuck to the garden to see them. Humming to herself, she grabbed a bucket and headed off to the garden. Lowering the bucket into the well, she waited until it filled up, and then started to pull at the rope.

***

Meanwhile, Darien, a prince, strolled around the floors of the palace, listening to his father's advice.

"Darien, you have to marry soon, you know. You can't go on being single forever! You've got to find a mate to produce an heir."

Darien cringed.

"I know, father, but I just don't want to marry anyone yet." Darien objected.

"Well, that will be easy. We are having a ball in a couple of weeks, don't you remember? It's a good opportunity to meet some ladies, friends, and hopefully a wife-to-be." Darien gritted his teeth.

"I don't really know about this ball, Dad. I'm telling you, I'm not getting married." Exiting to the main hall, he spotted his younger sister, the princess, Raye.

Smiling, Raye ran up to her older brother, exclaiming, "Darien! I heard father was throwing a ball to help you find a wife. I can't wait to check out all the guys!" Darien rolled his eyes.

" I thought you liked Chad. Butt out of it!. If you'll excuse me, I need to go." Darien abruptly left for his room. Raye snorted indignantly, "SNOB!" She called back.

"Strange, where could he be going?" Raye thought, concerned and too curious.

Darien desperately wanted to see the roses by the gardens, where the well was. He froze when he saw that he wasn't the only inhabitant there. Near the well, a young girl was pulling at the rope with all her strength. He chuckled. "Weakling..." He muttered.

***

Serena was halfway to success, pulling with great effort. She was about to drop the rope, since it was painfully burning her hands. Then right out of the blue, a foreign, strong pair of hands wrapped around her own pair.

"Arrrrrrrrgggggggggh!" Serena shrieked, dropping the sloshing bucket of water. As it fell to the fathomless depth of the well, it unfotunately drenched Serena. Sputtering, Serena wringed her hair indignantly, choking. She looked down at herself. Her dress was heavy, doubling the weight,and clinging to her skin. Seeing the stranger, she turned to glare at him.

"Err...Are you okay?" The stranger sputtered.

"Ugh! What did you do that for, scaring me like that!"

The stranger looked sorry for an instance, looking thoroughly at the pettite girl, dressed in now soggy, poorly fabricated dress. She was pretty cute, with huge blue eyes and blonde hair in two buns, except the anger smeared on her face almost ruined her looks.

"Sheish, you don't have to get in a hissy fit, I was just trying to help out." The man replied.

"I'm not THAT weak!" Serena shouted, insulted.

"Geeze, Sor-ree." He retorted sarcastically. Serena glanced at him. He had dark black hair, blue eyes. To Serena, his outfit matched his attitude: Costly, DRY, fancy clothing for extra conceited, snobbish guys.

"What's with the bucket, anyway?" The stranger continued.

"It's called: CHORES!" Serena shouted. Leaning against the well, he shrugged, "Get a maid to do it or something, don't have to be doing it all yourself when you don't know how to." Serena glared menacingly at him.

"We can't all live in royalty and riches! If you'll KINDLY get out of my way, I need to get home now, SIR" With that, she shoved him aside, grabbing the rope to refill the bucket of water.

"That's DARIEN! Poor thing, not strong enough to hoist up that little bucket?" Serena was now more heated up than ever. With pure rage to defend her dignity, she pulled up the bucket easily, swiftly, and with one quick movement, she grabbed it, and dumped the over-filled, sloshing container over the man's head.

Smirking triumphantly, Serena clapped her hands together, satisfied.

"Oh, I'm SO sorry. Did I just spill a bucket of water on top of you?" Serena finished with a sugary-sweet sarcastic voice.

"Oh well, have a nice day too Darien." Laughing, Serena sauntered away. Darien stared after her with disbelief, kicking away the empty bucket. From not very far away, he heard an girl's laugh. Turning around, he saw Raye doubling over with laughter.

"What the! what are you doing here, Raye?" Darien sputtered.

Cutting off her giggles, Raye smiled. "That was quite a show you two put on! Don't move THAT fast, you don't even know her name!

I seriously never saw you take a liking for this MAID so much!"

Raye said discredibly. Darien gaped. "Where do you think up this junk? I am not in love with this poor girl! Don't you feel bad for her? Three attempts to hoist up a stupid bucket!" Raye laughed, "Bad for her? I feel bad for YOU. As soon as you meet someone, ANYONE, you throw away the chance for making a new friend in a second! No wonder you don't have any friends besides your guards." As Raye spotted her brother's mouth gawking, she shook her head. "Don't worry, bro. I'm still on your side. But you seriously need to change. Maybe you should ask some pro-advise from Mina..." Trailing off, Raye patted her brother's head as they walked back to the palace.

***

The next week, Darien was up by dawn, staring out his window pensively. A LOUD, patterned knock on the door interupted his thoughts. He groaned. "Yeah, Chad, you may come in." After a split second, the huge door swung open, revealing his best friends, Chad, and Malachite, his body guards. Accompanying them was Raye and her friend, a servent, Mina. "What is it?" Darien spun around to face the quartet. Raye burst into a wide grin.

"The invitations were just sent out, they should be recieved this afternoon or so."

"Yeah, that's great." Darien droned.

"You are so weird! It's thrown just for you, and you don't show the slightest hint of happiness, nothing!" Raye finished.

"Of course he wouldn't be happy, didn't you say he was head over heels in love with this maid- dude?" Chad exclaimed. Darien widened his eyes wildly.

"WHAT! Raye! I am not in love with a stupid girl! How did this rumor get so fake anyway? All I did was meet a girl at the well.

It's not like we're getting married!" Darien spat angrily.

Mina smiled, putting a hand on Darien's shoulder.

"It's okay, you don't have to hide anything from us. Raye told me all about what happened. Seriously, if you really did everything Raye said you did, that is a sign of love!" She held out a "V-for-victory!" sign.

"Does anyone here actually believe me!" Darien yelled.

"We know, we're just playing, man." Malachite chuckled. "Anyway, about the ball," He coughed, returning to a serious tone, "You've really got to meet someone there. If you don't, I'm warning you right now, you'll be forced to marry someone. Anyone, it could end up in disaster." Malachite said, concerned, "Besides, these three are right. You really don't need to be ashamed of anything. Look at us!" Happily, Malachite grabbed a smiling Mina, Chad doing the same to Raye, except she almost tripped over him, smacking him lightly.

"Love birds." Darien scowled. "So over-rated."

"Anyway, we've got some more things to handle before the ball. Did we mention it's the day after tomorrow? The ballroom needs a redecoration." Mina said. "Ta-ta!" She called after, walking away with the two guys. " Hey! Wait up, I want to help too!" Raye exclaimed, running after the three.

"Yeah, and they leave me alone in bordom...better go do something. I have a feeling this whole ball-buisness is going to cause some haevy chaos around here..." With that, Darien stood up to leave.

Within five snappy minutes, he was steadily strolling down a lane somewhere really far away from the palace. "Now where was that flower garden again?" He thought to himself. Shrugging, he took a right turn to the middle of nowhere, walking aimlessly anywhere. He must of accidentally gone the wrong way, since he winded up in someone's back yard. It might of just been his luck to step foot in the place he least wanted to touch, to see the person he least wanted to see again.

The same maiden was watering the huge, bountious backyard with care. He stepped back, crushing something loudly, loud enough for the girl to hear, and spill the container over, startled. Swerving over to see the tresspasser, she sighed as she took in who was there.

"You again? Haven't you already learned a lesson?" the girl groaned torpidly. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Oh well, it's not like you can sue me for being here." Darien retorted. "It's public property, you don't own this place." Darien retorted. The girl glared at him, pointing to the fence that he had trespassed. Glowing bright red, he backed off.

"Never mind that, sorry about that." Turning to her to apologize, he saw that she wasn't paying attention, rather, she was taunting with two well-dressed, rich girls.

"Now what do you think you are doing in the yard, Serena, flirting with this man? Look, you almost scared him off with your hideousness." Emerald mocked, laughing intolerably. "Mother, or shall I say Master, wants you to finish your chores. So get back in the house and stop procrastinating!" Zoicyte scolded.

Serena sighed, "Geez. Okay, okay sister."

Zoicyte screamed.

"SISTER!" Serena rolled her eyes.

"Yes 'Your Highness' " She said sarcastically, disappearing. Seeing that Serena was gone, the two sisters rushed to an uncomfortable Darien.

"Don't mind her, she's only a servitude we keep around here." Emerald stated.

"Uh...yeah miss." Darien replied as they hung all over him.

"Call me Emerald." She purred. Freaked out, Darien wrenched off the two clinging girls, escaping before he got into further trouble.

***

As Darien, Zoicyte, and Emerald exited, Serena ran back to the yard to finish watering the flowerbed. Again, when Serena wasn't in a particularly good mood, Darien peeked in. "Hi Again."

"ARGHHHHHHHH! How many times do you have to drop by?" Serena shouted. Darien shrugged.

"Thought you might need help on chores. I mean, look at that list!" Darien pointed. "Gardening, Sweeping and cleaning, make lunch, on and on. Sheepishly, Serena grabbed her sheet away from him.

"Just my daily schedule, that's all." Serena said. Grabbing an extra bucket, she tossed it to Darien.

"You said you wanted to help, didn't you?" Serena grinned evilly. Darien groaned. "Whatever."

"So that's the little secret you've been keeping?" He spoke up.

"Secret. Yeah right."

"Well, you seem to be more...occupied then anyone's supposed to be."

Serena blinked. "That's what servents are for." She said, shrugging.

"No duh, but aren't the people you work for your...family?" Darien remarked. Serena scowled.

"That's none of your buisness, get started over the flower bed over there." Darien stood there, unbudged.

"Come on! I mean, you need to trust someone."

"Who said i had to trust you?" Serena asked.

"Fine, I'll leave, you happy, Serena?" Serena stared at him fishily.

"Wait, how'd you know my name?"

"It's called hearing." Darien tapped his ear. "Anyway, bye Serena."

"Hey! You didn't do anything!" Serena whined.

"Who said I had to?" Serena scowled. "I have so many things to do, though!" Darien suddenly smiled a half smile.

"Then if I help you finish the chores today, then you got to tell me what's going on here."

"NO WAY!" Serena exclaimed. Darien shrugged.

"Oh well, bye-"

"Um...then again, I do have alot of chores..." Serena cut Darien off abruptly. Go to the front lawn to trim the grass, I'll be here if you don't know how to trim grass-"

"Heck NO! YOu promised me you would tell me your secret." Seren sighed, giving up. "Yeah, then trim the rose thorns, I'll right behing you, watering the gardenias."

"Better." Darien agreed. After Serena showed Darien how to use a trimmer, and Darien started staring at it, fascinated, they resumed working again, working in silence for a minute or two. Clearing his throat, Darien spoke up.

"Hey! Didn't you say you were going to tell me your secret?"

Serena groaned. "Later, I have to finish watering-"

"Now." Darien said impatiently.

"Alright, alright." Serena rolled her eyes, seating herself on a stone bench. "Okay, so you wanted to know why my life is screwed up, right?" Serena snickered.

"As if some guy like you would care that my mom died when I was five, that my dad married to an evil woman with her three daughters, that they treated my like an annoying bug that keeps coming around. As if that was't perfect enough, that my dad died when I was ten, and I was resigned to living with slave-driving freaks for the rest of my life, who took away all the happiness I had, my life, and replaced it with this." Serena said in a hurry, barely making her voice clear.

"Okay, so that was a little more than I should of said, now get back to work and shut up about my life." Serena said tersly, whipping back, grabbing some tools and trudging to the gardenia flower bed. Darien had gone pale, and grabbed Serena's sleeve before she could walk away.

"What?" She complained.

"Your working here without a deal, contract, nothing?" Darien asked.

"I know, that stinks, now get back to work. I told you what you made me tell you, no more. My life is none of your buisness."

"Now it is!" Darien hissed, still pale.

"Why couldn't you tell anyone else far before. Then you wouldn't still be here in the first place." Serena sighed.

"You don't get it. They aren't that bad. At least they let me have shelter, eat, and everything. I'm not complaining, am I?" Serena said, proving her point. Darien was speechless, he was wrong about her all along. Now he understood what Raye had been saying about giving people a chance. "Um...I'm sorry, I-"

"You were just trying to help, right?" Look Darien, it was nice talking. I've got to go before mom, excuse me, Beryl, kills me. Thanks for understanding anyway." Serena plucked a pink rose from its group. "See ya!" Kissing Darien lightly on his cheek, she dropped the flower on his lap and skipped away inside the huge estate. Darien, who was overwhelmed by his first kiss, that wasn't really a kiss, from a girl, rubbed his cheek tenderly, picking up the flower. He speechlessly walked away.

***

Once AGAIN at the scene of the "crime" was the one and only Raye. She was perched on the roof of Serena's estate, spying on them. As Darien left, she scolded herself, "Uh Oh, he's going to kill me when he sees me. I better get home before he does." About to step down, she realized she was stuck on the roof, in an isolated position in which she couldn't possibly get down from. It was positioned right next to the attic, where one possible escape was the window. Groping for the ledge, Raye realized it was too far for her grasp. Her only alternative was to jump down two stories. Shakily, she muttered to herself, "Okay, here goes nothing." But instead, her day got worse when she tripped over her skirt on the roof and fell, screaming a piercing scream. Luckily, she had grabbed on to the narrow ledge, and was now clinging on for dear life on one insecure hand.

***

Sometime later, when Serena was done scrubbing dishes, she ascended for her room: the attic. As she entered, she heard a shaky scream near the ledge. Rushing to open the window, she peered down to see someone hanging on to the ledge, calling out for help. "Oh my lord! What are you doing on the ledge?" Serena yelled.

"I'll explain later, can you please get me down from here?" The girl begged with a shrilly, terrified tone. Extending her arm, Serena called out, "Here, grab on to my hand, don't worry, you won't fall!" When she had a good grip on the stranger, Serena started hauling her up with all her might. After a few minutes, the stranger along with Serena tumbled down to the attic's floor. The new comer gasped for breath, gratefully accepting a glass of water Serena handed her. As she gulped it down, Serena looked at her curiously. She appeared to be wealthy girl, though her dress was now dirty and torn. She looked strikingly familiar somehow, with black hair and violet eyes. Most unusually, on her head rested a tiara. Serena widened her eyes. The princess was trespassing the estate and in her room? The girl noticed Serena was staring at her, and grinned sheepishly, touching her diadem. "I guess you know who I am already. No need for further explanation." She said. Serena just trembled fearfully at the girl's gaze. "No, your highness." She said timidly. The princess rolled her eyes.

"Raye."

"Okay then, Raye." Serena repeated. "How did you end up here?" she marveled.

"It was a little mix up. I'm sorry about it. Serena, right?" Raye asked.

Serena didn't even ask. "Right."

"The question should be what you're doing here." Raye spoke up. Serena gave her a puzzled look.

"How low can you own mother stoop, forcing her own daughter to be a servant?" Raye remarked. Serena was now more scared than ever, since a member of the royal family now knew her position.

"Don't tell anyone!" Serena begged.

Raye sighed, "I won't, but I'm telling you it's better if I do." She replied. After a moment of thinking, Serena asked, "How do you know all these things about me, Raye?"

"Well, I have a very...reliable source. Raisnig an eyebrow suspiciously, Serena left the subject. "Well, Raye, I'm afraid you don't have a way to get out of here alive without jumping out the window or sneaking down without Beryl seeing you. Which alternative do you want?"

"Gee, I don't think I have much of a choice." Raye said wryly. Serena smiled.

"Okay, then good luck on your way down the stairs, or was that the roof? Raye shrugged and used the roof with help from Serena.

As Raye waved goodbye to her, she smiled, thinking to herself. "Wow, two new-found friends in one day." No longer dispirited, she practically bounced off to do her chores.

***

"That's weird, Raye's in this story too?" Rini cut Darien off.

"How many times do you have to interrupt this story!" Serena yelled.

"I'm just curious."

"Good for you, now would you close your mouth already before I gag you?"

"All right, sheish. Now continue with the story!"

***

The next day, Raye had found Serena once again, in the gardens. They had just stroked up conversation, and were deep into the little chat they had going on.

"So you have to stay in the castle 24/7?" Serena asked.

"Not exactly... I just don't go anywhere basically." Raye answered.

"Mother sends me everywhere. One moment this, the next second that, you know, got to run all over the place." Serena gestured with her hand. 'So lucky, a princess..." Serena thought.

"My sisters say the prince, well, your brother, was planning to throw a ball sometime." Serena spoke up. Raye pursed her lip, at the mention of Darien. Serena didn't even know Darien was her brother. Raye just smiled, " Actually, yes, for finding his queen or something. But you should have gotten the invitation already. Maybe your mother has it. The amazing thing is, everybody is invited! I mean, everyone. You might even have a chance, you know. I can tell my brother all about you..." Raye said in a singsong voice. Serena, who was blushing, waved her hand dismissively. "No way! I don't even think mother would even let me step foot out of the house that night. What chance do I have anyway?" Raye grinned a little, 'a BIG one.' She thought.

"Oh well, aren't you planning to get a guy?" Serena continued. Raye smiled, "Maybe..."

Her face contorted into a sour expression. "And for now, I'm stuck with Chad." She sputtered. "He's Dar- err..my brother's body guard. That punk still thinks it's funny to sneak in my room and put poisonous ivy, which he presumes are flowers under the blanket. Thinks it's sweet. Ooh, just wait until I get my hands on him." She said, practically cackling, shaking her fist, Serena burst into laughter too.

***

Darien had felt bored, and left the palace as usual, heading toward the garden as usual. He had been more than deeply humiliated when Malachite, Chad, Raye, and Mina had caught him doing the "She loves me, She loves me not" trick on the pink carnation he had recieved from a special someone. As he approached, he heard the voice of two girls laughing together. They were both so recognizable, to his surprise. He reached the well, and peeked at the two inhabitants. His blood curdled as he saw who they were. Serena was there, not to his surprise, but laughing with Raye. And she was still in her royal outfit and everything. He didn't dare approach any closer though.

***

The two girls had managed to find some bunnies nearby, and were trying to play with the squirmy batch. Their giggling had stopped, when all but one bunny fled away suddenly.

"Um, what happened?" Serena questioned. Raye whirled around, eyes meeting the intruder in shock. Darien gave her a nervous, silencing look as Serena turned around as well.

"Darien! She said, delighted.

"Um...Hi." Darien said.

"You haven't met Raye yet, right? She's the princess." Serena continued. Darien looked at Raye again, nervously, pretending to look surprised.

"Raye, Darien. Darien, Raye." She introduced tersely. The two didn't know what they could do, and were speechless, so just shook hands numbly.

"Uh, pleasure to meet you, Raye." Darien said slowly. Serena smiled, satisfied. "Somehow, you two look a lot alike." Serena spoke up, curiously. Changing the subject, Raye pointed at the remaining bunny rabbit in front of her. "I guess you scared the rest away, Darien." Raye said. Darien smiled nervously.

"Bunnies hate lions." He said, scooping the bunny up. It was fidgeting in his strong palms. "Isn't she cute?" Serena cooed at it.

"Stunningly beautiful." Darien murmured helplessly, his eyes fixed on Serena's face. Raye kicked him slightly, hissing under her breath, "The bunny, not Serena, idiot." Serena had heard both of them though, and laughed a little, embarrassed.

" Um...Nature is stunningly...beautiful, you know, the err, grass, dirt, and that bunny." Darien laughed nervously.

Raye rolled her eyes in despair. Serena giggled.

"You two make me laugh." Serena said. Raye, not wanting to get between the two, excused herself. "Wait, I remember the King was making last minute preps for tomorrow's ball. I got to go help out. I'll see you guys there, I hope." Raye got up, waving good-bye, and walked back to the palace. The two were alone now. They sat in silence for a moment, and then Darien spoke up. "So...no chores to do today?" Darien asked.

"Not really. Emerald and Zoi are attending a party somewhere, and Beryl's going as their chaperone, which leaves me free to do pretty much anything I want today." Serena said happily.

"And I thought it'd be nice taking a little bit time off, here with my friends." Serena continued. Darien bit his lip, nervously asking, "Have you ever, well...considered us to be a little..um, more, than, uh, you know." Darien shut his mouth immediately, looking at Serena's face hopefully. Serena on the other hand, didn't get what he was saying, and shrugged it off with a sincere smile, rolling her head back, staring back at Darien devotedly, blinking slowly. Not knowing what made him do what he was about to do, Darien lured himself, leaning toward Serena slowly.

***




start | on to part 02

back to Meatball Head & Roslyn's page

back to author list