#also i kinda had thoughts that the evil mentor was Bhuni

[rainbowserenity]

uuugh i can't choose can i request all 100 prompts?? 😂 But hey that request will take a long time so i'll go with no. 5 😅 I need more fluff

5. “I’m going to take care of you,okay?” 

(alternative title: Cinderfella, the sorta cracky, slightly fourth wall-breaking Cinderella AU that was supposed to be just a silly thing to make me feel better but exploded to 6500 words, why does this keep happening)

Onceupon a time, in a kingdom far away – or maybe it was close by, depending on your current location – there lived an orphan namedHope. His name was oddly fitting, since a bit of hope was all heseemed to have a firm grasp on in life.

Unfortunately,since it wasn’t anything tangible, he couldn’t survive on that aloneand ended up becoming an apprentice to the only scientist in town,just too keep a roof over his head. The man gave meaning to thephrase mad scientist anddidn’t treat Hope that well, often making him do menial chores thatwere more for busywork rather than for science.

Becauseof this, Hope often found himself daydreaming of what it would belike to escape – to do what he wanted on his own terms and make hisown decisions, not simply drift along because his parents were deadand he had no means of getting anywhere else. Unless he had it inhimself to steal his mentor’s meager fortune – which he would neverdo out of principal – Hope knew he would be stuck here for a longtime, scrubbing floors and dusting old glass beakers that hadn’t beengood for experiments since before he was born.

Theone reprieve he had was when he was sometimes sent into town to pickup supplies. Sure, he wasn’t allowed to make multiple trips so he’dhave to carry around all his bags and packages like some kind of packmule, but it was nice to get outside the dreary old lab’s walls andsee a bit more of the kingdom.

Andas silly as it may have been for a grown man like himself, he oftenfound himself staring at couples walking hand-in-hand or familieswith their children, wondering what it was like to have suchaffection solely for you.

Hopehad loved his mother and admired his father, but neither of themcould do much when they’d already passed on into their next lives andhe was stuck here in this one, where he was about to be run over by acarriage.

Wait…

“Watchout!” the coachman called in a nasty tone of voice. Hope gasped andjumped out of the way just as a regal-looking carriage hurried pasthim. He accidentally dropped some of his bags and they were trampledand stomped on. If he were a bit more poetic, he would’ve added thathis heart felt worn and trampled too, but as he was, he was justhopeful that everything in there wasn’t ruined.

“Areyou all right?”

Hopeglanced up, immediately locked onto piercing blue eyes that seemedslightly familiar, but it was hard to think logically when his heartwas suddenly pounding as loud as the horse’s hooves that’d nearly runhim over.

“Um- ” He cleared his throat, trying to act somewhat confident. “Yes.Thank you, miss.”

Shetitled her head, stray pieces of unusual pink hair falling into hereyes. “Right.” To his surprise, she helped gather up his fallenpackages and placed them back in his arms. “I think you’re good togo. Try not to get run over.”

“Uh,yeah. Yes. Of course.” Hope had no idea why he suddenly felt sotongue-twisted. The woman couldn’t seem to stop starting at himeither, though her expression gave away little. If he was honest, herclothes weren’t much to look at – she was dressed even more plainlythan he was, if that was possible – so her eyes stood out that muchmore. It was difficult to look away.

Wasit love at first sight? Perhaps. Lust was more likely, he knew, butstill…

“…I’llsee you around.” She smiled ever-so-slightly. “Watchout. Thoseroyal carriages usually don’t watch where they’re going.”

“Oh,uh. Yes. Right.” How didshe know it was a royal carriage that’d nearly plowed him over? Thenagain, it wasn’t like he left the lab often enough to tell thedifference. “I need to getthis stuff back to my mentor, anyway.”

“Allright…?”

“…Yes?”

Shegave him an unimpressed look. “This is the point where you tell meyour name.”

“Oh.”Hope was pretty sure he was blushing now. Or maybe he was one ofthose lucky people who didn’t turn completely red when their facefelt stupidly hot. “…My name is Hope.”

“Hope,”she repeated. She quirked the tiniest of smiles. “Be careful outthere.”

“Iwill.”

Beforehe could say anything else – or before the idea to maybe ask herfor her name occurredto him – the woman turned and disappeared into the crowd just asthe clock struck the hour. Hope shook himself out of his stupor andhurried back to the lab, daydreaming all the while.

–

Thoughhe didn’t get out much because of his mentor’s demands, Hope couldtell when there was something big happening in the kingdom. It wasthat unexplainable buzz in the air that captivated everyone andspread, not unlike a plague. Only in a good way.

Whyhe felt this way, he had no idea…until the invitation came.

Hedidn’t know what it was at first, despite the raised print on theenvelope addressed to All Occupants of The Lab andthe smooth, fancy paper. It was obvious this paper was important.

Hewas right.

“Theprincessis throwing a ball,” his mentor said after he’d read theinvitation. “They’re inviting everyone in the kingdom fornetworking purposes and to find the princess a suitor.” He tappedthe envelope with a wicked smirk. “Perfect. Maybe I can finally getsome decent supplies in here.”

Hopeglanced around, wanting to mention the hoards of unused equipmentthat he was forced to constantly clean, but bit his tongue. It hadnothing to do with his question, after all. “Um, sir?”

“Yes,what is it?”

“I…Idon’t have a suit. Do you think that maybe I could…?”

Hopetrailed off when his mentor glanced at him with an appalledexpression, eying him up and down. “Why on earth wouldyou need a suit, boy?”

“Well…Ijust….I noticed that the invitation was addressed to all theoccupants here,” Hope managed to say. He always had a hard timevoicing his thoughts around his mentor. “And seeing as how I livehere, I thought…”

“You?”The old man laughed, looking like he’d heard the most hilarious jokeever. Hope had not been joking. “Do you wantto go to the ball?”

“I…”

“Lookat yourself, boy.” His mentor made a strange sort of disgustedexpression, which would’ve offended Hope had he not seen it from theguy all the time. “You’re common. You’re nothing. You’re lucky I’vekept you in all these years, that I’m still willing to keep a roofover your head. Know your place and be satisfied with it, because theworld is cruel and this is the best you’ll ever have.”

Hopejust stood there, swallowing heavily as his mentor waltzed out of theroom, muttering something about getting his shoes shined and lookingfor all the world like he hadn’t just cracked his apprentice’s soulinto pieces.

Itwasn’t as though Hope was unaware thatthe world was cruel and there was little chance he would ever escapefrom this place. He wasbasically all alone in the world and had little to offer aside fromhis brilliant mind.

Tohear it spoken to him so plainly was the cruelest form ofconfirmation.

Wasit any wonder that he dreamed of escaping, of doing more, somethingbetter? Perhaps he could meet a beautiful woman who appreciated thesciences and he’d use his mind to better the kingdom with herencouragement and why did the hypothetical woman in this daydreamhave piercing blue eyes?

Hopesighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. Maybe he wasn’tallowed to go to the ball, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t imagineit.

–

Exceptimagination wasn’t enough, even if it was greater than science.

Whohad said that? He had no idea, since that quote was wronglyattributed all the time. Not that it mattered, not right now.

“Iwant the lab so clean I could eat from the slides and tables with norepercussions whatsoever.” His mentor adjusted his suit, agaudy-looking thing that had gone out of style a decade ago. “Doyou understand me?”

“Yes,sir.” Hope walked the man out to the carriage. Woooo, a night ofcleaning and dusting and not doing anything remotely good for hismental well-being. Story of his life.

“Good.Stay out of trouble.”

Hopewondered what the heck kind of trouble he could possibly get into,but said nothing as his mentor climbed into the carriage, not sparinga glance at his apprentice as the driver flicked the reins and theyclopped down the street, heading towards the palace in the center ofthe kingdom.

Allof a sudden, it was eerily silent. Hope assumed that everyone who wasable to get there was at the ball, undoubtedly the biggest, mostimportant event of the year. Yes, anyone who was anyone was dancingthe waltz and speaking to important people.

Toobad he wasn’t anyone – he was no one.

“Whatthe heck kind of attitude is that?”

Hopejumped with a shriek, covering his mouth with one hand when someone –that was a person,right? - materialized behind him without a sound. He noticed a secondlater that this person had managed to creep up on him because he wasfloating.

Floating.

“Whoare you?!” he managed to croak out.

Theperson – at a closer glance, they seemed to be male, albeit a verypretty one – floated towardsHope. “What, you don’t know how this story goes?”

“Story?What story?”

“Nevermind.” The guy shook out his luxurious brown hair. Glitter spilledfrom the strands and just kind of settled in the air around him,which might have been the weirdest thing of all. “I’m Noel. I’myour fairy godfather. I’mgonna take care of you, okay?”

“…Mywhat?!”

“Ohman, you really are a lost cause.” Noel sighed and floatedinto the lab, where Hope followed in a daze. Glitter was spillingaround Noel at an alarming rate. “Look, you want to get to theball, right?”

“Yes.”Hope was surprised at how easily the answer came, especially to acomplete stranger. “More than anything.”

“Thenguess what – it’s possible.”

“It’spossible?”

“Exactly.”Noel grinned and Hope blinked at him a couple of times, stillwondering at this guy floating in the lab and spewing glittereverywhere. Weirdly enough, the only thought that crept into his mindwas that Noel was probably floating because walking in the enormouspants he was wearing seemed impossible. “I’m gonna get you to theball, and it’s gonna be the best night of your life.”

“Waita sec.” Hope held up his hands. “How are you going to get me tothe ball? I don’t have a coach or horses or…or anything. I’m noone.”

“Howcan you be no one when you’re standing there like someone?”

“Huh?”

“Exactly,”Noel echoed. Hope wondered if Noel was actually trying to make senseor just actively confusing him. Maybe his mentor had slipped a littlesomething in the duster and cleaning supplies and now Hope washallucinating. That seemed logical.

Except…except…hewanted to believe.

“Everythingstarts with believing,” Noel added as though he’d read Hope’s mind.“So, like, do you believe I can turn a pumpkin into acarriage?”

“No.”

“No?!”

“Becausewe don’t have any pumpkins,” Hope pointed out. “We’re in a lab,not a quaint little home with a vegetable garden.”

“Goodpoint.” Noel glanced around and finally pointed at one of the oldbeakers that Hope had cleaned earlier. “What about that thing? Youbelieve I can turn that into a carriage?”

“I…guessso?”

Thatseemed to be all the incentive Noel needed. Ignoring Hope’s wideeyes, he made the beaker float outside and made some motions with hishands. Glitter swirled around the beaker, blinding it with light asit grew and stretched, the glass sounding like crackling ice as itformed a stunning carriage that made prisms with the rays of thesetting sun.

Hopestared. “How…”

“Don’task me how. Magic.” Noel grinned, looking over the carriagewith approval. “Man, these designs on it are a little weird,though. They look like…numbers, maybe?”

“That,uh…” Hope cleared his throat. “That doesn’t matter much to me,as long as it gets me there.”

Noelsnapped his fingers. “That’s what I need!” He floated back, onlyto return with a bunch of lab rats, their noses twitching excitedlyfrom being out of their mazes. “This’ll only take a sec.”

Withanother whoosh of his hand (and more glitter), some of the rats weretransformed into stunning horses with long, luxurious manes. Theothers became a driver and footman, who glanced around in confusion,probably wondering why they were so tall.

Hopestared some more. Asking how was useless, he knew, but…

“Ahem.”Noel gestured to the rats/coachmen, who scrambled to theirpositions. “What else...” he muttered.

Againsthis better judgment, Hope glanced down at himself. He was wearing adirty, ragged shirt, pants that were too short, and shoes with solesso worn that he may as well not have even bothered. His mentor didn’tbelieve in keeping his apprentice looking well. “I...”

“Sayno more.”

AfterNoel flicked his hand (more glitter), Hope spun around as thoughcompelled by some unseen force. He could feel the magicworking over his clothing and hair, transforming him into a differentperson entirely.

Andwhen the glitter faded, he may as well have been.

Thesuit Noel had magicked him into was of a style he’d never seen beforein any kingdom, yet conveyed all the taste and elegance of the mostelite. It was of varying shades of green, yellow, and white, whichshould have looked gaudy, but stood out perfectly with his hair andeyes. His shoes were shiny, his hair perfectly done, and his skin waseven so clean that he was sure anyone looking would actually be ableto see the light smattering of freckles across his nose that wereusually hidden by dust.

“This…”Hope held out his arms, looking himself up and down as best he couldwhile trying to keep his jaw off the floor. “Noel, I – how did -?”

“Youknow my answer.”

“Iguess I do.” Hope felt a little dazed. His arms flopped down, andit was only then that he noticed the yellow band tied around his leftwrist. “What’s this?”

“Plotdevice. Don’t worry about it.”

“...”

“Don’tlook at me like that! Look, time’s a-wasting, and trust me, that’s thelast thing you want to do. In you go.” He ushered Hope towards thebeaker-turned-carriage.

“Okay,okay.” Hope smiled despite himself, letting himself feel an ounceof excitement. He was going to the ball! It didn’t feel real, even ashe climbed into the carriage, almost wanting to sing out loud for it.His heart pounded in excitement.

Rightbefore it took off, Noel cried out, “Wait! Just one more thing!”

“Whatis it?”

“Getback here before midnight.”

“What?Why?”

“Themagic wears off at twelve,” Noel explained, trying to sound a bitominous, but all of the glitter cascading out of his hair ruinedthat effect. “Unless you can get home on an actual glass tube andsome rats, you’ll wanna head out before then.”

“Iprobably could,” Hope replied. “I am ascientist.”

“Yeah,well, don’t chance it, okay?” Noel patted the carriage. “Now goon! Have the time of your life and all that!”

“Iwill!”

Thecarriage started off and Noel disappeared in an explosion of glitter.Hope sat back against the cushions, watching the kingdom fly by,excitement building in his heart.

Perhapsthis really would be the best night of his life.

–

Thiswas the worst night of her life.

No,that wasn’t quite true – the worst waswhen Serah came home from a visit from the neighboring Villierskingdom with a ring on her finger and a fiance that followed heraround everywhere, making the pressure for Lightning to find ahusband and produce an heir heavier than ever.

Itwas stupid and medieval – everyone knew Serah would make a betterqueen. She already had a proposal from a neighboring prince, and notjust out of convenience, either – Snow genuinely did loveSerah. It was clear they could rule if they wanted to, thoughLighting personally wouldn’t trust Snow to put his shoes on byhimself.

Butnooo, just because there were all these laws andrules and she justhappened to be bornfirst, everyone was on her to find a husband, nobility or not, so shecould safely become queen – never mind that she’d been doing justfine ever since her parents died, thank you very much. A husbandwould only slow her down.

Allthe palace advisers didn’t seem to think so, however. They’d decidedshe needed to throw this ball and invite everyone in the kingdom inhopes that she could find someone to be with.

Sostupid.

Andyet…

Lightningbowed her head to the man that’d basically been thrown towards her todance with, letting him lead as the string quartet played a lazywaltz. He bowed deeply before sweeping her into the dance, notnoticing when he stepped on her foot and started yammering on aboutwaterfalls or something.

Hewasn’t the one. She knew that much.

PrincessLightning Farron wouldn’t have said she believed in magic or love atfirst sight, but there wasn’t much of an explanation for the way herheart had thrummed in herchest ever since her random meeting with that stranger, Hope.

Itwas so stupid – all she’d done was help pick up the packages he’ddropped, a delightfully mundane task that she normally never didsince she had servants waiting on her hand and foot. He hadn’t evenseemed to recognize her, maybe due to her disguise as a commoner,which was usually preferable but now she wondered if that was reallysuch a good thing when with every possible suitor that was presentedto her, all she could searched for were sea-green eyes and a mop ofsilver hair.

Sure,the guy could’ve been a terrible person. Maybe he had bad breath orpicked his nose when he thought people weren’t looking and all of herwondering was for nothing.

Buthow would she know unless she was given a chance?

Withevery new dance partner, however, her disappointment grew. EitherHope hadn’t come or he hadn’t gotten the invitation at all, despitethe fact that literally every person in the kingdom had been invited.Maybe he’d taken one look at the immensely crowded ballroom andturned away.

Sheglanced up when the doors suddenly creaked open, sounding incrediblyloud despite all the chatter and the music, and suddenly stopped,messing up the whole dance as she stared at the top of the stairs.

Ormaybe Hope would simply appear as though put there by magic.

–

WhenHope had been walking the long hallway to the ballroom, escorted by acouple of silent guards, he kept wondering if he should turn back andjust forget this whole thing. Just because he wanted togo to the ball didn’t mean he should.

He’dalmost expected Noel to sprinkle glitter over him and insist that hejust move, but nothing like that happened. Surprisingly, Hope wasgoing forward on his own confidence, something that didn’t happenvery often. It was difficult to feel confident when yourmentor/supposed father figure constantly looked down on you.

Maybeit was the outfit. It probably was, but at the same time, he knew itwasn’t merely the suit that was pushing him forward, giving him thethoughts that he could dothis, that he deserved to.Looking like a million gil definitely helped, but when all was saidand done, not even the world’s most comfortable shoes could move forhim.

Huh,maybe there’d been a little something extra in all of Noel’s glitter.

Allof the confidence came to a head when he stepped into the ballroom,staring down those long stairs and meeting an oddly familiar piercingblue gaze.

Everythingseemed to stop and time itself felt like it was in slow motion asHope walked down the stairs, every step bringing more whispers andstares from the crowds. Despite all that, they seemed to part for himnaturally as he approached the one person he hadn’t at all expectedto see.

Herbangs still fell into her eyes, though that did nothing to hide theirbeauty. Hope was so distracted by that simple fact that it took him afull minute of staring torealize that she was dressed in a glittering violet gown – a colorreserved for royalty – and had an elaborately designed tiara on herhead.

Oh.

Oh.

Hope’seyes widened a bit as he finally got his head on straight and bowed,an arm over his waist and one sweeping out to his side, as wasproper. Or so he’d heard. If it wasn’t, he might be beheaded andthat’d be okay at this point. Itwasn’t like luck was normally on his side, Noel excluded. “Goodevening, your highness.”

Therewas a slight pause before the unthinkable happened.

Shecurtsied back.

Heglanced up to see her smiling ever-so-slightly, which he returnedwithout thinking. And then, as though ordained by fate, theyimmediately fell close to each other, his hand on her waist and theother grasping hers, waltzing into a dance that felt as old as timeitself.

Huh,maybe he did have themakings of a poet.

Herdressed swooshed his legs as they whirled around the ballroom. It wasactually a pretty pleasant feeling, but of course only came second tothe way her hand fit perfectly in his and how easily they danced asthough meant to do it.

“Iwas hoping you’d come,” she finally said in a low voice once they’dmade their way around.

Thissurprised him and he nearly stumbled, but somehow managed to stayupright. Maybe those shoes Noel had given him were magic. “Youwere?”

“Yes.I only had your name to go by, after all.”

“Howdid you…” As his voice trailed off and those eyes stared intohis, it suddenly hit him where he’d seen that gaze before.

Hithim like a carriage, maybe.

“You’rethe woman from the marketplace,” he said in awe.

“Ilike to get out there sometimes,” she said with a little smirk.“It’s difficult to rule a kingdom unless I know about it.”

“Iwould imagine so, your highness.”

Theprincess. The princess hadknelt down in the dirt and helped him pick up his packages. He wasdancing with the princess. Ofthe entire kingdom. Thatthought came front and center and he glanced around a bit, unwillingto let his eyes wander too far.

“Whatis it?” she asked.

Hesmiled nervously. “Everyone’s staring at us.” Indeed, they werethe only ones dancing, while everyone else was clumped up in a hugecrowd, wondering about this mystery suitor who’d come and put a smileon the princess’s face out of nowhere.

“I’dhardly noticed,” she admitted, tugging him a bit closer, her thumbtoying over his wristband curiously. Hope wanted to burst into songor maybe a choreographed dance, but settled for smiling and squeezingprincess Lightning’s hand in his.

Inall of his joy, it didn’t really occur to Hope that his mentor wasprobably in the crowd somewhere and likely recognized him…at leastuntil it was some time later and Lightning was leading him to thegardens outside.

Hismentor was at the edge of the crowd, talking to someone who lookedincredibly bored. Hope ducked his head a bit, though he knew nothingwould hide his mop of silver hair.

Lightningnoticed this. “Is something wrong?”

“N-No,your highness,” he said, breathing an audible sigh of relief whenthey were suddenly alone in the garden. She raised an eyebrow.“Nothing you need to concern yourself with.”

“MaybeI want to.” Now it was Hope’s turn to stare at her and she huffed alittle, her heels making low sounds on the pavement as they wandered.“I’ve always been…practical. Kept my eyes front. My goal hasalways been to lead a prosperous, happy kingdom. Nothing more,nothing less.”

“Yourhighness…?”

“Andthen I find someone who nearly gets run over by a carriage because hecan’t watch where he’s going.” Him. She was talking about him.Right? “And I can’t help but wonder if perhaps all the tales aretrue.”

Hope’shead was reeling. “What sort of tales?”

“Aprincess finding a suitor when it’s the last thing she wants. Theyhave a chance meeting and when they properly meet, it’s…”

“…It’samazing,” he finished in a whisper, his heart still thudding. Ithadn’t stopped from the moment he’d arrived to the ball, really.“Love at first sight always seemed illogical to me, but I can’t…Ican’t ignore what I feel when I look at you, when I dance with you,or even now, just talking to you like this.”

Lightninglooked at him, her expression a strange mix of wariness and hope.“And what is it that you feel?”

“Ifeel…” He had no idea if Noel really had givenhim a dose of confidence, because Hope was neverthis forward with anyone. He wasn’t meek, exactly, but he always madesure to stay in his place. His mentor insisted on as much, after all.“…I feel like I haven’t really lived at all until now. Idon’t even really know you, your highness - ”

“Callme Light.”

“…Light.”He smiled and took her hands, her fingers instantly curling aroundhis. “And you barely know me. But something about this just fits.Doesn’t it?”

“Yes.”She took a step, closing some of the space between them. “Maybethis night isn’t even real. Maybe we’ll both wake up disappointed.”

“Ifthis isn’t reality, I don’t care, as long as you’re there.”

Shelooked completely flabbergasted, and honestly, he felt the same.Dancing with someone he’d met by chance, only for them to be theprincess and they fell so hard after dancing? It was like a fairytale. Things like this just didn’t happen.

Butthen again, people also didn’t have fairy godfathers who magicallyturned beakers and lab rats into coaches and horses and clothed themin finery dotted with glitter.

Thethought gave him pause. Was any of this real? Her feelings – werethey brought on by the fancy clothes and fake confidence? When he wasback to being a dusty apprentice, would she still stare at him withan adoring gaze that he somehow knew was only reserved for him?

Ifthe tales were right, there was only one way to find out.

Lightningseemed to have the same idea, because she started leaning just as hedid. Up close, he could see the faint blush on her face, her longlashes that seemed to go on forever, especially as her eyes slowlyclosed and their lips were barely a breath apart…

BONG!BONG!

Hopegasped and immediately backed away. “I can’t stay.”

“What?”

Hedidn’t stick around to explain – how could heexplain any of this anyway? - and spun on his heel, immediatelydarting back into the crowd. He heard people murmuring and the soundof heels as Lightning chased after him, but he didn’t stop toapologize, not when every strike of the clock was like a deathsentence, just looming closer and closer.

“Hey,wait up!”

Atall blond man grabbed his arm, but Hope shook it off and continuedto run, dashing up the stairs and then bursting out of the ballroom.Vaguely, he felt something fall off his wrist and flutter away, butthere was no time to think about it. The lab rats turned coachmenwere frantically waving him over to the beaker carriage and Hope flewinside about a second before the horses ran off, galloping into thenight.

Maybeit was a reward for getting out of there before midnight – or justat it, anyway – because the magic lasted until they were but ablock away from the mentor’s house. Hope’s clothing faded away in aspray of glitter and he was left in his dirty shirt and pants. Thebeaker rolled onto its side and the rats scurried around, lookingconfused.

Hesighed heavily, scooping them up and letting them stay in hispockets. “I don’t blame you guys one bit,” he said as he walkedthe rest of the way back to the house. “I can’t remember the lasttime I panicked so much.”

Thehouse was still dark when he got back and he set the beaker aside,giving it a strangely fond look before putting the rats back in theircages. They seemed a lot happier to be back somewhere familiar andHope sighed again, finishing his thought to no one but himself.

“Butit was worth every second.”

–

Lightningstared at the piece of yellow fabric in her hand. It was slightlystretchy when she tugged on it, possibly an indication that it wasmeant to go around someone’s wrist.

Ifshe hadn’t been holding it, she would have believed that last nightwas simply a dream, or perhaps something out of a silly fairy tale,which was sounding more and more likely. This fabric in her hands wasclearly the plot device, which she used to scour the kingdom to findthe man who’d worn it…

Exceptthis was a wristband, not a shoe, which meant it could fit anybody.

Thenagain, she’d seen Hope’s face – twice now, in fact. Since shewasn’t a complete idiot, she could just gather all the youngsilver-haired men in the kingdom and pick them out from there.

“Soundslike a great idea, sis!”

Lightningfrowned and glanced to her side, where her sister Serah was beaming.“I didn’t realize I’d spoken out loud.”

“Youtend to do that.” Serah seemed to find this hilarious, but herexpression softened when she saw Lightning holding the wristband.“I’ve never seen you so happy as you were when you were with thatman. You must find him!”

“I…”It was here that she felt like a complete idiot. “I don’t where helives.”

Serahstared for a second before giggling. “Really?! Who dances withsomeone the whole night, nearly kisses them - ”

“Howdo you know about that?”

“- and doesn’t even know where theylive? This really must be love, Light, because you neverlose your head like that.” Serah patted her sister’s hand. “At least you know his name, right?”

“Yes.” Of course she did. What kind of idiot spent an entire night with someone without learning their name? Never mind that she hadn’t learned it at the ball, exactly…

“Allthe more reason to find him. Where should we start?”

“Thebeginning, I suppose.”

Unfortunatelyfor her predicament, her kingdom was absolutely enormous, stretchingfor miles and miles across many lands and roads. At first, it wasnothing to travel from the outskirts going in, asking if there wasanybody named Hope living there or if they knew of him. A few homesdid have a silver-haired man, but they were always the wrong person.

Strangerstill was that nobody seemed to know who Lightning was talking about.Those who had gone to the ball recalled her dancing with him, ofcourse, but they didn’t know who he was. Nobody seemed to recognizethe wristband, either.

“Infact, your highness, this is the oddest fabric I’ve ever seen in mylife,” a seamstress said, looking it over with a critical eye.“It’s not something I’ve ever worked with. Perhaps someone conjuredit into being by magic.”

Atthis point, she wouldn’t doubt that, even though everybody knew magicwasn’t real. Pffft. Instead, she simply thanked the seamstress with asigh, getting into the carriage and letting her drivers take her to adifferent part of town.

Itwasn’t a question of if she could find Hope or not – shewould. This she knew without a doubt.

Butwith every wrong man, wrong house, wrong Hope, her heart grew heavierand heavier and the doubt began to creep in.

Untilshe arrived at the lab.

–

WhenHope heard a carriage stop in front of the lab, he didn’t think muchof it. His mentor sometimes got visitors to tour the place or who hadingredients for experiments to deliver. Typically when this happened,his mentor would make Hope go into the other room and clean orprepare drinks for the guest, acting more like a butler than anapprentice.

Butthis time, his mentor took one look outside the window and glanced atHope, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. “Go into the kitchen.”

“I’msorry, sir?”

“Gointo the kitchen and sweep the ashes from the fireplace,” he barkedout.

“Y-Yes.”Hope wandered towards the kitchen in a daze. His head had been in theclouds since the ball, something which his mentor seemed to notice.The guy was even more cruel than usual, making Hope do every tinylittle task that had nothing to do with science. Sweeping ash wasnothing compared to scrubbing the lab rats’ cages.

Hismentor closed the kitchen door once Hope was in there and he sweptslowly, ignoring all the clouds of ash that dirtied his ankles. Itdidn’t matter when his mind was a million miles away, thinking of alovely night where he danced with the princess…

“No,no, there’s no one else here.”

Hopeglanced towards the door with a slight frown as he heard his mentor’svoice break through his daydreams. It wasn’t really uncommon that theguy denied he had an apprentice – Hope was too common, after all –but there was something high-pitched and nervous in his words thatmade the broom pause.

Outof the corner of his eye, Hope saw a burst of glitter before he heardan achingly familiar voice.

“Areyou certain of that?”

Light.

Hopedropped the broom and immediately raced to the door to burst throughit like a hero in a story, but it wouldn’t budge. He pushed himselfagainst it and jiggled the knob, but nothing happen and he slumpedagainst it, feeling the fight leave him.

Hismentor had locked him in the kitchen, which only meant one thing –he knew Hope had been to the ball.

Therewere a thousand things he could do – he could shout, he couldcontinue to break down the door, he could use a flame from thefireplace to burn the doorknob off…but Hope did none of that.

Instead,he simply stood there in shock, fear planting his feet and sole-lessshoes to the floor.

Fora moment, he wished Noel would come back and dress him in that fineryagain so the confidence would come back. Logically, he knew it wasn’tthe clothes doing it, but that night at the ball had made him feel sodifferent – more like himself, the way he really was,instead of a simple, common apprentice to a mentor that wantednothing of his mind.

Hewas simple. He was common. He was an orphan with nothing.

“Whatwas that noise?”

“Oh,ah – just my dogs, your highness. I didn’t want them to run outhere and disturb you.”

Apparentlyhe was a dog.

“Idon’t give a damn about any dogs. You’re sure there’s no one elsehere, or that you don’t know of a silver-haired man named Hope?”

Butaccording to the desperation in Light’s voice, he was more than adog, a commoner, a simple man. He was someone that was needed.

Andhe wanted to be found.

Knowingthat it was useless to try anything else with the door, Hopeimmediately turned towards the kitchen window and opened it. It wasjust barely enough for him to wiggle through, though he could’vesworn he saw another flash of glitter at the moment he believed hewas stuck.

Instead,he fell to the ground and hurriedly scrambled to his feet, hearingpoised footsteps walking towards the carriage parked in front of thelab. His mentor was coming out the walkway, babbling about somethingas the princess was helped to her seat, but Hope barely heard.Instead, he walked out towards the carriage just as it started off,getting in the way of the horses and just narrowly avoiding themrunning him over.

Fora long, long moment, he stared at those perfectly groomed, whitehorses, the surest sign of nobility. The carriage was ornate andedged in gold, a far cry from the beaker he’d arrived to the ball in.

Thecarriage stopped.

Theprincess came out.

Again,there was a long pause where the two of them just stared at eachother, she dressed in perfectly fitted silk gown and he in a dirtyshirt and too-short pants with soot on his ankles. There was probablydirt and dust on his face too, hiding his freckles.

Butboth of them were unmistakable to each other.

Lightningsmiled a bit as she slowly walked towards him, not seeming to mindthe dirt at all. “Watch out. Those royal carriages usually don’twatch where they’re going.”

Hopehad a flash to their first meeting, before he knew who she was –before he knew who he was – and smiled. “I can’t say I’veminded their interference.”

Hersmile widened ever-so-slightly and she held out a hand. One of herattendants scurried forward and placed a familiar-looking piece ofyellow fabric in her hand and Hope’s eyes widened.

“Howdid - ”

“It’show the story goes,” she murmured, tying the wristband on when heheld up his arm. “A princess finding a suitor when it’s the lastthing she wants. They have a chance meeting and when they properlymeet, it’s…”

“…Amazing,”Hope murmured, finishing the sentence he now knew by heart.

Lightningran her fingers over the wristband, glancing at it before her eyesmet Hope’s again. “They say it ends with the couple living happilyever after.”

“Iwouldn’t call this an ending,” he said, confidence he thought he’dlost surging through him as he leaned in to claim the kiss he shouldhave at the ball. “More like…a happy beginning.”

Strangely,he thought he could vaguely hear the sounds of his mentor shouting“NOOOO” as he and Lightning kissed, but Hope hardly cared. For solong, he’d been lost, wondering who he was and being told to be happywith his place.

Butwhile he may have been common and simple in the eyes of some, he wasamazing in the heart of another.

Ithad taken time and maybe the help of a fairy godfather, buthe knew now where he belonged.

Glitter and all.