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

Taking a deep breath to give himself courage, Arbutus walked out where everyone could see him.  Though he looked to be a picture of calm and grace, his stomach was tying knots with itself.  What if he scared these girls away?  What if they found his features freakish?  Then he would have done all this for nothing.  No, not nothing; he had made a friend in Maria after all.

Everything was going well until she heard two voices. Her stepsisters Janet and Robin. She gasped. "What should I do?" she whispered to herself. Then a voice appear. "Go fight them..." Maria gasped as she saw a woman in a blue dress. "But I promised Arbutus I'd watch his plants..." the woman smiled. "I'll watch them..." then she waved a magic wand to make her dressed up in a mask and periwinkle dress as she walked in the room.

Seeing no one making the attempt to introduce themselves, Arbutus began to cross his arms.  It was a habit he'd developed to show that he wasn't pleased with something.  Wishing for this to be over with, he decided to say something.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice.  I would like for each of you to introduce yourselves and allow me to become acquainted with you better.  Somewhere among you, there must someone who will win my heart." he announced.

Maria walked in the room and she gasped at all the young women. Then her stepsisters walked up to her not knowing who she was. "Who are you?" Janet asked. Maria couldn't let them know it was her so she smiled. "I am nothing but a humble shy and generous maiden who wants to see what's in the host's heart. How about you two?" They laughed at her but she noticed that a lot of the maidens were dancing with him. So she sat down and waited for him to chose her to dance whenever he was ready.

Truth be told, Arbutus was not enjoying himself.  It wasn't most of the girls danced badly, there was just no...spark.  He didn't feel anything special when he met another of his guests.
He started trading the young ladies off faster and faster.  He could see they were intimidated by him anyway.  How could they not be when their partner was seven feet tall and resembled a tree with wicked thorns and claws for fingers?  He hoped Maria was having more fun than he was.

Maria felt bad for her friend and yet when she kept looking at him her heart would beat like crazy. She smiled as it was her turn. She'd had been used to the thorns and scrapes cause her stepmother and stepsisters used to hurt her with sticks and thistles. She blushed as she curtsied. "May I have this dance?" she smiled.

"Yes.  Please come." Arbutus took her hand and felt something.  It was like a jolt of electricity had shocked him.  They started to dance, him unable to take his eyes off her.  Something about her made him feel different, relaxed, just like he had with Maria.

Maria smiled as she danced with her beloved. Wait did she think that right? Beloved... She had to admit with them together like this it felt like it was only them. She giggled "You're quiet the dancer..." Meanwhile her stepsisters glared at her. "She's so lucky cause the others had minutes but she and he look like they are gonna dance for hours..." Then all of a sudden Maria looked at the grandfather clock and looked at him. "I have to go I made a promise I have to keep..." she walked off and the other maidens crowded him and Maria looked and ran back to the flowers not seeing a piece of her dress fell off.

"Wait, please!" Arbutus begged.  He tried to follow her, to ask her what promise she was talking about.  But the other girls crowded him and blocked his path.  After a while, he pushed his way through them and found some fabric from the girl's dress.  He found a place to sit and practically fell into it, one hand covering his face in sorrow.  He didn't mind at al that everyone else was witness to his pain; let them watch for all he cared.

The maidens watched their host in sorrow and decided to leave. Meanwhile Maria looked at herself was in her everyday rags. She walked in the ballroom seeing Arbutus upset. She knew it was somewhat her falut so she was gonna tell him it was her but before she said anything her stepsisters barged in. "Arbutus we are your secret maiden..." Maria sighed as she left heartbroken as she went to the well in the backyard. She felt so stupid and so upset. She gasped as she saw one of his roses blooming beside her.

At hearing two girls claim they were his mysterious partner, Arbutus looked up at them with a piercing gaze.  He recognized them, though he didn't know who they were.  And he knew neither of them was the one he was looking for.
"No you're not.  I saw both of you watching and talking to each other when I danced with her.  Unless you have any good reason to talk to me, go away." he said in a dangerous tone.  With that, he got up and went out into the garden, where he could have some real peace.  He saw Maria sitting there and smiled in spite of his low spirits.  Even if he never saw that girl again, he still had her.

Maria smiled as she held the rose that bloomed in her hand. Then she saw Arbutus. She walked to him. She faked a smile. "So did you find your true love?" she asked knowing that he did and knew that she should tell him it was her but he probably see them as friends. Then she pulled out her musicbox started playing the music and unaware to her she started to act like she did at the dance. She grabbed her rag dress. "May I have this dance?"

Arbutus turned to her, a look of surprise on his face.  The girl he danced with had sounded just like that.  He touched her hand, and felt that same jolt go through him.
"It was you all along?  I was hoping it would be someone who knew me, really knew me.  And no one in that room knew me like you did." he said as he gazed at her face with a smile full of gratitude.

Maria smiled as she blushed and shyly looked down. "I knew that you wanted maidens and they had to be of noble blood but I was forced to give up my nobility...I thought I didn't stand a chance but when my stepsisters came and I was keeping my promise to keep your darlings safe a fairy appeared and transformed me..." she wanted to say what was aching in her heart but she couldn't. Unaware to the couple her stepsisters were watching. They decided to make Maria pay.

"You still kept your promise.  And I got to dance with the one girl I felt a connection with.  There's something I need to tell you, Maria.  I'm in love with you." Arbutus told her.  The garden informed him that they had unwanted guests.  He would be ready to take action.

Maria blushed and looked at her beloved's eyes but when she noticed a different side of him she took her hand and caressed his tree-like cheek to face her. "I'm sure it's nothing...and I wanna tell you that I'm in love with you as well..." she giggled her special giggle he'd like so much. And then the stepsisters left and made their plans for making Maria pay. And they knew how. She loved helping others and when she come to the village again there would be a 'servant' in danger and she'd be trapped by a slave trader and she'd live with him.

"I am so glad to hear you say that.  But you know, just because you gave up being a noble doesn't mean you no longer have noble blood.  I should know." Arbutus told her, taking her hand as he created a swing for them to share.

Maria gasped at the sight of the beautiful swing. She sat down with him and she intertwined their hands together as they swung. "I know but I didn't want you alone..." she locked her eyes to his and then she smiled as they faced eachother. She inhaled and exhaled as she began to move closer to him and began to lean forward and surrounding them flower petals began to fall like snow.

Arbutus leaned closer to her too.  He wasn't sure what he was doing, but he knew that it felt right somehow.  His eyes slid closed and his lips felt hers.

Maria smiled as they kissed. She placed her hands on his chest and softly moaned. "My beloved Arbutus how I love you so much..." Maria gasped as she saw the flower petals showering on them.

"I love you too, my darling.  Nothing will keep me from you." Arbutus promised her.  He smiled as he looked up and saw the flower petals raining down all around them.  It seemed his "children" had an idea of how to make this special for them.

Maria smiled as she snuggled her head on Arbutus's chest. She intertwined their hands together as she heard his heartbeat. "I know you'll protect me my beloved." Then it hit her, she had to go to the market. "I'll be back my love I have to some shopping I'll be back soon..." she kissed his lips again unaware with her stepsisters plan.

Arbutus waved after her.  Though he was sure she would return, he had the sense that he should keep an eye on her.  He commanded a pair of vines at his gate to follow her and let him know if anything went wrong.
"I will protect you, Maria." he vowed.

Maria was shopping for new clothes that she knew Arbutus would love her wearing. Then she gasped as saw a slave trade going on. "The poor man..." Maria decided to take her stand, she needed to help him. Then when she freed the innocent man she was grabbed behind a store and she tried screaming up she was gagged and tied up and thrown in a cart. The slave owner noticed the vines and took his ax and cut them. And since Arbutus and Maria kissed she felt a small connection with the nature and as the vines were cut she felt like a stab in the heart. Through the gag she muffled a scream. "Arbutus!!! Help me..." Maria was so scared she began to shake.

But Arbutus had already seen what he needed to know.  He cried out as the vines were cut.  But the tree-like man had a plan for how to catch up to them.  Creating a large pod that could carry him a far distance underground quickly, he stepped inside it.  The pod closed, vines wrapping around it to secure it as the capsule sank into the earth and was on its way.
'I'm coming, Maria.  I'm coming to save you.' he thought to himself, anger burning inside him.