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

Flo smiled as her beloved kissed her. She touched his cheeks. "I love you Desmond and you only." She started to close her eyes and while she slept one of Dr Shadows dark spirits shifted into a scorpion. It crept without anyone seeing it. It stroked it's poison in Flo's throat. Cause her to lose air. The shadow vanished.

But what it failed to realize was that the sense of touch never stops working.  Though Desmond could not see the shadow, he felt it crawling over his feathers.  Having determined where it was, he took a knife and stabbed it, putting an end to what mischief it was causing.  And he guessed that it was up to no good when Flo began to breathe more easily.

Flo fluttered her eyes opened and ran to Desmond. "My Desmond..." she cried holding him close to her. "I was scared...I had flashes of memories of you without me..." she started to cry.

"There, there.  It's okay.  That's not going to happen any time soon." Desmond assured her, smoothing her hair to soothe her.

Flo snuggled her head on Desmond's chest hearing his heartbeat with hers. "don't leave me..." she said. Alidia felt a pain in her heart. She was gonna fix it but she began dreamfalling again. This time she was an orphaned duchess but she liked to keep it secret. And she loved working around fireplaces. Her name was Maria. Black hair green eyes and pale white skin.

Rahim felt himself dreamfalling.  This time, he found himself in a castle.  His hands had long claw-like fingers and he thought he might be another animalistic beast.  When he looked in a pond and saw his reflection, he saw how wrong he was.
His face was human, but it looked vaguely tree-ish.  A shrub of leaves rested atop his head like a turban and he had a mossy beard as well as fangs in his mouth.  They made him seem older and more dangerous.  He had a red shroud around his shoulders, held in place by thorny adornments and a red rose on his left lapel.  His robes were green and slim, giving him the look of a tall willowy man who seemed to be part tree.  His name, though almost forgotten to him, was Arbutus and he was a cursed noble's son.

Maria sighed as she was done with another job. She sat by the towns fountain and of course nobody talked to her besides when they needed her and her work. She was okay with that. She washed her face and gasped as she saw a baby rabbit. It was heading to the enchanted forest. "Dare I go?" she said to herself. She smiled as she followed the white baby rabbit. "Hey wait up..." then when she lost it she sat by a tree still having leftover water she gave it to the tree. She began to sleep under the tree.

Arbutus had been taking a walk at that time.  When a small rabbit came bounding by, he was curious.  He followed the little rabbit's path to where it came from and saw a girl sleeping under a tree.  At first, he was surprised by this.  But as he studied her face, he felt himself relax in some way.

Maria fluttered her eyes opened to see the baby rabbit sleeping on her lap. She giggled. "Silly rabbit," she smiled as she pulled out a carrot "This was going to be my dinner small friend but you can have it." The young girl stretched and then she smiled as got up and left without noticing her music box fell out of her satchel. When it played it; played marvelous music.

Arbutus, who had been hiding nearby, noticed that the girl had dropped something.  He wondered if she even noticed that her music box was missing.  Leaning down, he picked up the box, intending to keep it safe for the girl until she came back for it.

Maria started to look for a place to sleep in the town but she had no money and everything was full of capacity. She sighed with a bit of disappointment but then she smiled as she thought of the spot she was in the forest. Holding her satchel she walked back. What she didn't noticed was she went deeper in the forest. Then she gasped as she saw a castle. "Oh my..." she whispered. She felt the walls of the castle. They were stone but covered in grass. She knew it wasn't right to go in without permission but she saw storm clouds. She walked in and found a paper and pen. 'Dear whoever lives here, it was about to storm. So I walked in your lovely home. I'll pay or find someway to pay to make sure I was accounted for. Have a good day. -Maria-" She smiled as she sat the note on the table. She began yawning as she laid down on a couch and looked for her musicbox. "Oh no...I probably left it with that baby rabbit...I will get it in the morning..." she began to fall asleep.

It was by pure luck that Arbutus decided to return home just before the storm hit.  He didn't mind the rain, but he was still human on the inside, despite how the outside had changed.  But when he arrived home, he was in for a real surprise.
"It's her!" he exclaimed, quietly.  The girl he had seen earlier that day was now in his home.  She had left him a written message about why she was there, and he felt a sense of admiration for her grow as he read it.
"She's a considerate one." he said to himself.  Noticing how she slept uncovered, he willed a large leaf to lay itself over her and keep her warm.  He, himself, didn't need to sleep since he was connected to nature.

The next morning Maria woke up and found herself covered with a leaf. She smiled and giggled. "That means the owner is connected to nature. How sweet." She folded the leaf blanket and walked into what seemed to be the kitchen but it was like a jungle. She picked some fruit she saw a started to make a fruit salad for the owner and she began vocalizing.

Arbutus was in the middle of trying to create his latest work of art.  When he suddenly heard music, he got up to investigate.  He entertained the idea that the girl might be awake.  It was morning, after all.
He came upon the kitchen and there she was.  She was making a fruit salad as she vocalized.  Not knowing where the idea came from, he wound the music box and opened it to play music with her voice.

Maira paused as she heard her musicbox. She turned around and gasped dropping the bowl but it being made out of leafs it was okay. She looked at the marvelous person in front of her and holding her musicbox. She shrugged it off and smiled. "Hi I'm Maria Sunshine...what's your name? You hungry?" she bent down to get the bowl. "I'm making fruit salad that I found the fruits when I was looking around your nature kitchen." She grabbed another bowl and scooped out some fruit salad and handed to the owner of the place.

"My name is Arbutus, Arbutus Stormrage.  And thank you for offering this for me.  I discovered your music box yesterday, and planned on returning it to you.  I just didn't know how I'd get in touch with you again." Arbutus answered her.

"The pleasure is all mine Arbutus..." Maria smiled as she curtsied. "I'm glad you found it. It's all I have my parents and well..." she paused wondering if she should trust him with her secret and her heart was saying yes so she continued. "my palace...you see before my evil stepsisters and stepmother took over; the Sunshine Castle was a peaceful place and then my mother suddenly died and she gave me that musicbox with her lullaby and shortly after that father remarried and then he died and I was kicked out of my own home...but I have been earning my keep as a maid..." she blushed "you're the first person I've told..."

"Then you and I have something in common.  I too was ostracized from my former home by the deeds of a family member; my father.  You are the first person I've been able to talk to in a long time." Arbutus confessed.

Maria gasped. "I'm so sorry Arbutus." Then underneath their feet formed a grass seat built for two. She blushed as she sat. "Care to tell me about it?" she smiled as she patted the seat next to her as she popped a strawberry in her mouth. "I don't bite...I promise your secret whatever it is it's safe with me..."

"It was a long time ago." Arbutus began as he sat. "My father got on the bad side of an Enchantress after he shunned her for being what she was.  Instead of taking vengeance on him directly, she did it through his most precious treasure; his only son.  She took my heart out in front of my father, put a spell on it, and placed it back in.  In doing so, the curse spread to the rest of my body, until I looked as I do now and my heart was turned into a rose." At this part of his tale, his fingers touched the rose on his left lapel.
"She had no ill will toward me, really, and pitied me for having to pay for my father's mistake.  So she gave me a new way to express my art, and brought me somewhere where I might find one to accept me as I am." he added.

Maria gasped at Arbutus's tale. "That's so sad..." She hugged him. "Don't worry I'm sure that some lucky girl will come..." then she had an idea. "Maybe you could make a party for all the maidens in the land...and maybe you'll find your true love..." she smiled

Arbutus looked at her, intrigued by her proposal.  It was a novel idea.  But, he still worried over one detail.
"I would invite others here, Maria.  But, I wonder if any of those maidens with treat my home here with respect.  All these plants here were created from my desire to make this place beautiful.  That makes them like my children.  And I am an artist, first and foremost." he reminded her.  As he held out his hand, a yellow hibiscus flower bloomed there to prove his point.

Maria smiled "I'll watch them. While you're searching for your true love I'll take care of your babies. Now let's get you ready..." she giggled as she took his leafy hand upstairs. "let's see what for you to wear..." she looked and gasped as she found a suit. "this is the one..." she put it on him for a fitting session. "umm a few sewing places but I'll fix that...now go wash up we have a ball and your true love to prepare for..."

The idea of so many girls there at once made Arbutus uncomfortable.  But he had always been someone who did as he was told.  So, he reluctantly went to bathe.
Being in water rejuvenated him.  He supposed it was to be expected, being part tree as he was.  And it gave him time to think about all this.
"I hope I'm doing the right thing." he murmured to himself.

Maria smiled as she finished Arbutus's suit. She placed behind his chair and placed a white rose in the front pocket cause while sewing it descended on her lap. She smiled as she sent the invites and soon the ballroom was full of young ladies and Maria kept the place tidy like she promised. To the madiens Maria was just a servant girl. And Maria was okay with that. She didn't like the snotty lifestyle. That's why her home was like peaceful cause she was her own person.