The Happy Couple (Tag: Alidia and Rahim) rated M

Dani heard someone coming in. She looked up and gasped. It was a beast. But she saw good in him. She got up from her seat and pulled the chair. "Here...sit...I'll make your plate." Dani stacked the pancakes and placed them in front of him. "There you go." she smiled as she sat. "I'm Dani by the way and I'm sorry for inviting myself in..."

"It's alright.  I actually noticed you coming from one of the windows.  So I let you in because you looked exhausted.  And my name is Orlando.  I'm just curious about what you're doing here." he said as he sat down.

Dani smiled "nice to meet you Orlando." and then she frowned as she told him what happened yesterday. "That's why I ran/ slept here again I'm sorry...once you're done I'll do dishes and leave..."

He felt pity for her.  How could another person, let alone her own stepmother, be jealous enough to want to kill her?  What's more, he didn't like the idea of her out there with no one to keep her safe.
"Dani, would you consider staying here?  I'd like to help protect you.  You'll be safer here than you will be in the wild." Orlando offered.

Dani smiled "Really Orlando? You want me to stay?" Dani squealed with delight "Oh thank you...I'll keep up with chores and cooking...I'll make sure everything is in order...by the way are any rooms that are forbidden?" 

Meanwhile the queen did the mirror and found out Dani was alive. The queen vowed she would find her and kill her herself. But Dani was protected with magic. The queen growled as she plotted. 

"Um, yes.  I do want you to stay.  And as for your question of forbidden rooms, there are none that I would like you to stay out of.  I only ask that you steer clear of any mirrors you may find in any room but your own.  I find that mirrors are not just for one's vanity." Orlando warned her.

Dani hugged him. "Thank you..." she said "No mirrors...okay." Dani smiled. "Is there a library in this castle?" Dani loved to read. She grabbed his paw. "show me everything..." she giggled

Orlando was rather surprised by her enthusiasm.  It had been a long time since he had a guest, and he had nearly forgotten how fun it was to have one.  When he'd recovered enough to answer her, he smiled.
"I was planning to take you on a tour if you agreed to stay.  And the library sounds like a good place to start.  Follow me." he instructed.  He led the way down a long hall to the East Wing of the castle.  A pair of double doors waited at the end.  He pushed them open and brought her inside.
"Welcome to my library, Dani." he said in an almost dramatic way.  The room was huge!  There were probably more books there than anyone could read in all their lives.

Dani gasped when she stepped in. "It's like a church..." she looked around at all the books. She smiled cause she knew she would be here after working. "What's your favorite book?" she asked still in awe.

Meanwhile the queen was deciding how to kill Dani then it hit her a poison apple since Dani loved them. But she needed a costume for Dani not to notice her. She walked down in her basement and began her magic.

"My favorite book?  That's, uh, that's hard to say.  I like so many of the books here that I never stopped to think which one I liked the most." Orlando confessed.

Dani smiled "Same goes for me...but I love the ones where's a princess and prince and they live happily after..." Dani takes Orlando's paw. "I wish I could help...with you..."

Meanwhile the queen was transformed into an older woman. She smiled as she look for a spell for poison apples.

Of course, Orlando knew that issue would come up sooner or later.  How could it not when he looked so freakish?  He looked away from her, feeling embarrassed to be standing beside one so fair as her.
"Do you find me repulsive, Dani?" he asked, secretly praying that she didn't.

Dani saw Orlando turn his back to her. She took her hand and made him face her. Her eyes locked on his. "Orlando...what kind of question is that? If I found you repulsive why I am still here?" She caressed his furry cheeks. "Orlando...you're amazing and kind...whoever else says else wise I'll kick their butts..." Dani smiled as she looked at the time. "Orlando wanna pick some flowers for lunch?" Without him and herself noticing. She looked in a mirror and the queen found her. But she wanted to wait for the right moment.

Her words gave him some hope.  It was something he hadn't had in some time.  At the question of flowers, he became rather excited.
"I can't wait to show you the garden.  Not even I can the many different flowers to be found there." Orlando told her.  He ushered her to come with him so she could see it.

Dani was taken to the garden and she was in awe once again. The colors she was shocked. "Orlando... This is breathtaking and awestruck..." she couldn't help it but lay in daises and the roses. She smiled and giggled. 

Orlando found her joy was contagious and was soon smiling with her.  He knelt to begin gathering some flowers, when he spotted something that reminded him very much of her.  It was a small white flower that looked like its blossom was facing the ground at a forty-five degree angle from the stem, a Snowdrop.  He reached out and plucked it before handing it to Dani.
"For you.  A Snowdrop for the one with skin white as snow.  I hear they give protection." he told her, "Would you care to help me find the most arrangement of flowers?"

Dani blushed as Orlando handed her the Snowdrop flower. "Thank you." she said sheepishly as she made it into a ring. And when he asked for her help for the flowers she smiled and nodded. 

Meanwhile the queen was watching and gagging. "Oh yes Orlando...I'll help you...(fake giggles)" mocking Dani. "Just wait I'm coming and there's nothing to stop me..." she chuckled evilly. 

Dani's presence in his home seemed to bring a light, color, and life to the place.  And for Orlando, it was like a place inside him that he hadn't known was there had been discovered and was being filled.  In a short amount of time, they had become close friends.  When she wasn't doing some sort of work, she would spend time with him and do things together.
They would read books together in the library, visit the garden.  Once, she watched him feed the animals that stayed there.  She just had a way of bringing sunshine to his life.

The days flew by and Dani was so happy with Orlando. She had forgotten her past. One day she decided to go to the village and get some fruits. She wrote Orlando a note and she grabbed her cloak and walked out. 

The queen saw this. "Nows my chance..." As she walked she cried her old lady cry "Ohhh my..." Dani saw this and walked towards her. "Come with me I have a place for you..." Dani led her to the castle. 

Orlando found Dani's note.  It put him at ease that she let him know where she was.  He still thought about her stepmother from time to time.  What if the Queen was looking for her, waiting for the right moment to strike?
He began to feel better when he saw his dear friend coming back.  But it looked like she wasn't alone.  Suspicious, he headed to the main hall to welcome her back.

Dani saw Orlando. "Now don't be shocked..." Dani told the elderly woman. "But this is my close friend Orlando..." The woman shook her head as she saw him "Strong man..." she said and Dani smiled. Dani placed her on the couch. "Orlando...she needed help and I helped her..." Dani whispered and then saw the fruit the woman was carrying and she took an apple and place it in her pocket. She would eat it in her room. "So Orlando...be kind...for me?" Dani caressed his cheeks. "Now I need a nap. I'll be in my room." Dani walked to her room.

Orlando watched Dani as she left for her room.  Thus, leaving him alone with this old woman.  He would try to be kind to her.  But...there was something about the stranger that turned his stomach to rot.  As if some part of him knew she wasn't all she appeared to be.

Dani was in her room and she placed the apple on her dresser as she started to lay down but Dani was hungry. So she grabbed the apple and bit it. At first it was juicy like any apple then it began closing her throat. Dani began gasping but was too weak for calling help as she collapse on her bed laying down. Her eyes closed and the Snowdrop flower dead also. Dani's last thoughts were of Orlando.

Meanwhile the old woman smiled as she began distracting Orlando of her long stories and then she saw the time and walked out of the castle and she disappeared. 

Orlando could not have been happier when the woman left.  Although, he was curious about why she never explained what kind of help she needed.  Pushing it to the back of his mind, he thought he would find Dani and tell her that they should get ready for dinner.  When he opened her bedroom door, he was met with the last thing he wanted to see.  She lay unmoving, the apple nearby with only one bite taken out of it.  That's when he knew what had happened.
"Dani!  No." he wailed as he gathered her in his arms.

The queen was overwhelmed. "That was easy..." she said. She smiled as she looked in her mirror said the chant and once more she was the fairest of them all. She laughed evilly. "I'm the fairest..." Meanwhile Dani was unmistakably not breathing or nothing. But her throughs were of Orlando and her...reading picking flowers and her making dinner. And she never got the chance to say she loved him.