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starryserenade · 1 year

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Myth and Magic Ch. 13: Lullaby

Fic Description: When Tir Na nÓg--the fabled land of the fae--falls to a dark power, the destinies of two young mice are set in motion. As each struggle to make their way in an ever-darkening world, they must learn to trust one another, or risk forever losing that which they hold most dear.

Chapter Description: Mickey's secret is revealed, and Minnie's trust is put to the test.

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AO3

Prologue

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter: Coming Soon

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Mickey had never run so fast, not in his entire life. His climb out of the dungeon had not been an easy one, but the same magic that had covered the dragon’s keep in flowers had aided in his escape. Vines had sprouted upon the walls and woven up towards the sky, and he had clambered up them as quickly as his little body would allow. He was still weak from earlier, his tunic torn and back streaked with a gash from where the whip had scourged him. Every muscle in his body ached and burned, but all that meant as far as he was concerned, was that he was alive. And as long as he was alive, he really only had one goal.

His heart still ached, a light, dull sort of sadness, for the dragon and her fate. But her words had invigorated him nonetheless. He felt strong–believed in, even–and it filled his heart with a warm light and a determination to do such a gift justice.

The Sidhe would be after Minnie, he was sure of it. Whatever Daisy had planned, she couldn’t have accounted for that. Someone had to warn them. He had to warn them. Or…oh no.

He saw flashes of light emanating from a small spot in the castle town, and knew at once it could be nothing but magic. His heart shuddered. They’d beaten him there. His only hope was that this indicated there was a battle still to be had. Minnie would be all right. He would have known otherwise. He narrowed his eyes and leapt over the peak of a grassy hill, skidding down its slope and then hitting the ground running once again. His chest heaved with exertion but it would be worth it, he told himself. It had to be.

As he bolted across the town’s borders, a sudden flash of light erupted near the town square. His eyes widened, and his pulse quickened. Something was happening. Something bad. A familiar scream rang out through the streets, amplified a thousand times over in his ears. Minnie. There was pain in her voice. Real, physical pain. Anger burned inside of him.

If they hurt her…

His pounding feet led him straight into the chaos. He saw nothing else. Not the barrier which should have kept every mortal outside, not the army which waited anxiously for their chance to strike, not even the other faces who fought so furiously against the Sidhe. He saw only Minnie, and the spear about to pierce her heart.

With a desperate shout, he thrust himself at the Sidhe, digging his nails as deeply into her arms as he could in a frenzied attempt to keep her from bringing the weapon down upon Minnie. “Get…away…from her!!” he shouted, gasping for every breath that he spent in this tug of war.

The creature shrieked, but was distracted just as Mickey hoped. She turned away from Minnie and instead began to focus her attention on being rid of the pest that had latched itself to her back. This, unfortunately, was not a difficult endeavor. In hardly ten seconds, he felt himself flung off, his body hitting a stone wall with a distinct cracking sort of sound. For a brief moment, his vision went black, and Mickey woke up a second later to find himself crumpled beneath the stone cold eyes of the Sidhe. He pushed himself up, a flaming glare in his eyes, and scowled.

Droplets of water began to fall from the sky. Minnie screamed his name. Mortimer shouted something he didn’t quite hear. Then a shudder ripped through the village, ripped through Mickey. Magica had screeched something just before, but the words escaped him. Everything escaped him, except for the helpless feeling of breathlessness that flooded his body. His back flared, like two pinpoints digging into his shoulderblades, and a massive migraine tore through his skull.

He screamed, then groaned, blinking away the blur as he tried to take in his surroundings. The Sidhe had collapsed, lifeless, and the others had…AGH! Mickey gasped, and lurched forward. Then, slowly, as he truly came to, he felt a massive weight at his back.

His stomach churned and his body shook. Something had changed. Something was different, and he had a sickening suspicion that he didn’t want to entertain. He was afraid to look behind him, but his shadow said it all. In the usual shape of his form, branching out past the silhouette of his shoulders, feathers stretched out like looming branches.

He caught sight of Minnie, and all his own concerns seemed like specks of dust. She was on the ground, head cradled in Daisy’s hands and blood seeping into the dirt from a wound Mickey hadn’t seen at first. Her body writhed,mouth gaping open as if trying to breathe, but all that came from her were gagging little coughs that spilled water onto her fur. Mickey’s blood went cold.

…all that binds her to life.

Fand’s words sat in his mind, sparking a terrifying apprehension as he realized what was going on. Whatever had happened, the enchantment that safeguarded Minnie’s life had been interrupted.

He watched as she lifted a trembling arm ever so slightly and reached his way before collapsing back again. Mickey could hardly move, but he forced himself to. For her sake. It was hardly more than a crawl, really, the way he pulled himself towards her. His body hurt as if a sickness was sweeping through it, but he pushed through anyway, dragging himself through the ever-worsening rain. When he finally reached her, Daisy relinquished control as Mickey swept Minnie up in his lap and gently cradled her head in the crook of his arm. He tore a piece of his tunic and held it to her wound to try to slow the bleeding, but he was at a loss as to how to stop her drowning. All he could do was set his hand to her cheek in some pitiful semblance of comfort.

Daisy stared at him and his wings, clumsily outstretched, shocked but not shocked. If he had been watching her at all, he might have seen the look in her eye that was something like an “I knew it”, but he was far too focused on Minnie to care.

“What happened? What changed?!” he gasped frantically, glancing at Daisy for only a moment.

“Mortimer did something! I-I don’t know exactly what, but-”

“So what d’we do?!”

“If you can get far enough away from the epicenter of the spell…it might be enough to break its hold on her!”

Mickey pursed his lips as Minnie coughed up another wave, and swept her up in his arms. He took note of her paling face with a painful lurch of his heart. There was fear in her eyes, and he hated that he couldn’t take it away. He looked around him, clutching her tightly to his chest as he scanned for any opening through which to escape.

By now, the surrounding soldiers seemed to realize the barrier keeping them from intervening had vanished entirely. Or, at the very least, Mortimer did. He stood up from where he’d been safely positioned in the back of his troops, and shouted furiously. “What are you idiots waiting for? Attack them!”

But the soldiers did not. At least not at first. As they stood in the rain, the droplets soaking through their leather armor and tunics, a ripple of confused murmurs swept through their ranks. From the front, a soldier whispered a shuddering question that soon echoed among his peers.

“...Isn’t that the princess?”

“It’s her…”

“...I remember now…”

Mortimer reeled, eyes widening in furious shock when their words reached him. Anyone who’d been drenched in the rainwater was now looking back at him with wild distrust in their eyes. He sputtered wordlessly at first, desperate to maintain his authority. When he couldn’t think of anything too convincing to say, he fell back upon his rage.

“ I am your KING! ” he shouted furiously. “Everything you are, you owe to ME! Attack them, now!”

Memory does not equal loyalty, and a good number of the soldiers were convinced by Mortimer’s empty commands. They had, after all, been handpicked by him, which largely meant they were the sort to have joined for purely selfish reasons. But not all. Where many narrowed their focus and lifted their spears to rush the wounded party in the square, a small number of determined souls pushed from the ranks to flank the border and lifted their shields, keeping their compatriots from invading.

“You! Fairy boy!” An older guard, experience written in the scars across his face, shouted gruffly as he pushed his shield back against an onslaught of soldiers, and Mickey turned to look. “You’ve got wings, don’t you? Use them! Get her out of here!”

Fly? Mickey took a step back and swallowed. No, no, he didn’t know how. He’d fall. He’d hurt her. Shrinking against the rising cries of the mob about to break through, he opened his mouth to argue. Daisy had been taking advantage of the brief moment of protection by darting to each of her friends,each of them still reeling from their forced transformation. When she heard the soldier speak, she cast a pointed glare Mickey’s way. “Do it, idiot! She needs you!”

An enemy soldier broke through, spearing the one blocking her path. Daisy stopped her from getting too far but with the wall broken, others rushed to follow. Daisy’s friends leapt up, pulling daggers from beneath their dresses, to fill the gap and hold the line as best they could.

Minnie’s movements were slowing, and the fear that rushed through Mickey’s heart at that realization was enough to overcome his self doubt. He tested his wings, willed them to move. It was a strange feeling, as they unfolded in a trembling curtain of feathers, almost surreal. Every raindrop that splashed against them, rolling down each plume, was one he felt as clearly as if it had collided against his skin. He beat them twice, testing the wind as it pillowed beneath, and drew in a breath. It felt familiar, like he’d done this before.

Had he?

The enemies pushed forward with a unified strength and with a cry, the group’s newfound protectors were forced to pull back. Spurred by Mortimer’s barking commands, the invaders immediately focused on Mickey, the princess now hanging limply in his arms. But as they neared, Mickey urged his feathers downward in a final, powerful sweep.

A gust of wind rippled out from under him, and the soldiers stumbled backwards, holding their arms in front of their eyes to shield them from the raindrops that were swept like daggers towards them. By the time they recovered, Mickey was no longer on the ground.

He was anything but graceful as he took to the skies. Each beat of his wings was clumsy, and he realized quickly that his right wing was weaker than the left, a slight twist in its feathers making for sloppy shaping of the air. To stay aloft took every bit of his concentration to achieve. But it was for Minnie. So he grit his teeth and managed to steady himself enough to keep rising.

“We’ll find you!” Daisy shouted up to him, her voice growing smaller by the second. “Just get her to safety!”

Mickey nodded, though there was no way she could have seen. Minnie was now completely still, save for a light curl of her tail every couple seconds or so, and it took everything Mickey had not to plummet to the earth for sheer panic. Hold on, he urged her as the chaos of the village vanished from view. He didn’t know how far he’d have to fly to take her out of the spell’s range, but he’d go ‘round the whole world if he had to.

Had circumstances been different, Mickey might have marveled at the view that stretched before his eyes. With the castle and its town far behind them, and stormclouds far below, nothing but starlight stretched for miles, ribboned by a green aurora that wove its way through the air. It was another world entirely, the one up in the sky. But Mickey was oblivious to it all.

He had flown for only a few minutes when he felt a sudden shudder rush through him, like a hum of magic that had been reignited. Minnie stirred. She flinched, then lurched in his arms, and he had to adjust quite quickly to keep from losing his grip or plummeting to the ground. Unfortunately, he couldn’t have predicted Minnie’s reaction when her eyes blinked open. They fell to rest on his face and, at first, filled with the warmth and joy of recognition. Then a look swept through them that Mickey didn’t recognize, and they widened in terror.

Before he could question the change, Minnie was clawing at his chest, crying and screeching hysterically, and trying to push him away.

“Minnie, Min! Minnie, stop, it’s me!” Mickey gasped, trying his best to calm her and keep his concentration on the flight. But there was a crazed look across her face, one that proved she was deaf to his pleas. Struggling to keep his grip, Mickey started to descend. He was exhausted, and shocked by Minnie’s sudden outburst. She was confused. She had to be. Why would sh- “Agh!”

Mickey yelped and flinched, face twisted in pain. Daisy’s aid from before had helped to drive the poison from his veins, but the burns from the cuffs they’d placed around his wrists still remained. Minnie had dug her nails into these burns, prompting an altogether involuntary response from Mickey. It didn’t register at first, that he’d let go. He had curled instinctively from the pain and brought his hands to his chest with a whimper. Then he heard her scream and noticed the emptiness in his arms, and with a rush of horror saw her falling through the clouds.

“ MINNIE!” he screeched, and instinct took over.

His wings folded by his side as he dipped towards the earth, nose-diving without a second thought towards the falling princess. The ground came into view far sooner than it felt like it should have, and sheer panic flooded Mickey’s soul. He pressed his wings tighter around his body, and then reached with all he had. A few yards from the ground–too close to stop his trajectory–he caught her by the hand and brought her to his chest, flipping over so that his back was to the earth when they hit the ground.

Overwhelming pain shot through him when he opened his eyes and he gasped, gulping in air. One wing rested at a crooked angle to his side and the other lay twisted beneath him. Before his eyes, Minnie was standing over him. She held something in her hand and as Mickey blinked away the blur, he saw that it was some kind of sharply pointed stone.

A breath escaped him, carrying with it a shaky sort of disbelief.

“M-Min?”

Her nose twitched, and he saw that there were tears dripping off it. “Who are you?” she seethed, voice thick with anger and sadness.

Mickey tried to push himself up and failed miserably. He was entirely spent, and could hardly register the confusion racing through his head. “Wh-what are y’talkin’ about, Minnie?” he breathed, hating that he was terrified of the way she raised that stone over her head.

She wouldn’t hurt him. She loved him. She loved him.

…right?

“It’s…it’s just me. Mickey. It’s…just me.”

“LIAR!” she screeched, and Mickey flinched as her hand seemed prepared to bring that stone down. But she stopped just above his chest, her tears dripping onto his fur as his lungs heaved for air. She stared at him for several moments, her eyes narrowed with rage and betrayal; his wide, afraid, and confused.

“Min…” Mickey whimpered. Her hand was shaking, clutching that stone like a knife as she held it hovering above his heart.

“You took everything from me…” she sobbed. “You took everything from me, and then you took my heart, too. Why..? WHY?!”

Mickey wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t understand, but he felt altogether responsible…somehow. Like he’d deserve it if she drove that makeshift blade through his chest. When he didn’t respond for several long seconds, Minnie bared her teeth, raising the weapon to bring it down on him.

Mickey shut his eyes, preparing for the worst, but instead he heard the rush of something landing against the snow. When he dared to look, Minnie was crumpled beside him, the blade gone from her grip as she sobbed into her hands. He released a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, tension falling away with a shudder.

The pain truly registered then, a horrid, nauseating sweep from his wings to his brain. It made his vision spin as he tried to at least sit up, fighting against a wave of darkness that loomed at the corner of his sight. But it was Minnie he was worried about, more than the worst of the shudders that ripped through his body.

They had fallen in the hillside, in a place mostly empty but scattered with trees, each several paces from the other. It was snowing here, as it had been in all the places they’d been through when they’d been carted to the castle. For once, this was probably a good thing. The powder had broken Mickey’s fall, and the broken wing that resulted was far better than what the alternative could have been.

The flakes fell in lazy drifts, settling upon the sparkling blanket in a quiet sort of dance. Mickey was grateful for the chill that kept him from dissolving into sleep, but he knew it put Minnie at risk. She had her arms wrapped around her knees now, tears still slipping down her face as she stared off into the distance, as if she’d find something there that would answer all her questions. Her body shuddered, but she didn’t seem to notice. That worried Mickey, too. Whatever had overcome her mind, it seemed to have robbed her of every feeling.

“Min..?” he tried again, in a broken sort of tone. He couldn’t understand why she refused to look his way, why the sound of his voice made her wince. “Minnie, please…talk t’me…”

He set his hand to her shoulder, and she finally reacted. She whipped around to look at him, distrust blazing in her eyes, and lifted her hand as if to knock him away. But then that familiar feeling tingled through both of them, that mixture of warm and cold, and she froze. Her fingers hung in the air, raised to push him back, but they wouldn’t move any further.

Her gaze melted, still hurt, still confused, but now softer. She stared at his face for what felt like ages, and Mickey slowly brought his other hand to her. Her own fell to her side as he stroked the curve of her shoulders, gently, calmly, as one might caress an injured animal. A breath escaped her lips, then her eyes welled, and without warning she was burying herself in his chest. “You…wouldn’t…” she sobbed, words slurred. “I’m wrong…I have to be…wrong…”

Mickey did his best to stand his ground, he really did. But the pain in his back and wings was stronger now, and as he held her, his legs gave out from under him and brought them both down into the snow. “...ngh...’m sorry…” he gasped, falling to his knees.

But now she was holding him, her eyes darting to his twisted wings, her hands slipping over his back and shoulders as she felt for the places where he was hurt. “Oh…” she whimpered, sniffing away her tears. “...Oh, what have I done…”

“‘S’alright,” Mickey laughed, as best he could at least, and his hand found her cheek. She paused then, and so did he, taking in the beauty of the flush in her cheeks and the kindness that had been restored in her gaze. He hoped he’d never have to see hatred in those eyes ever again. “...must’ve done somethin’ real awful t’make an angel like you so mad, though.”

Her shoulders slumped, and he wished he hadn’t said anything. “Mickey, I…” She looked away, biting her lip like she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to explain.

But he wanted to know. It scared him, the thought of what she might say, but if he’d done something to her in the time he couldn’t remember, he was desperate to know how to put it right. “It’s all right, Min,” he assured her, in a voice more serious than any he’d ever used. “You can tell me.”

She drew in a breath and opened her mouth, every bit of her trembling. “It doesn’t make sense,” she whimpered. “But when I saw your wings…it’s like I could remember, clear as day.”

He leaned in, his grip on her as gentle as ever. “Remember what?”

“The fairy…the one who took my memories away…” she whispered, and though she avoided his gaze, she leaned into his chest as if to tell him she wasn’t afraid. “It was you.”

Mickey flinched when he heard those words, and his heart dropped to his stomach. “Me?” he asked in an empty tone, his mouth dry, and he let his grip on Minnie falter.

“It’s all right!” Minnie assured him, feeling him pull away, and she set her hand behind his neck to keep him from going too far.

“No…no, it’s not,” Mickey breathed, running his hand through the fur between his ears. That fairy had taken her whole life from her, had doomed her to loneliness and heartache. If that was him, how dare he be with her now, as if he wasn’t to blame. “That’s…that’s…Minnie, are you sure?”

He could tell by the way she pursed her lips that she wanted to take it all back and lie. But slowly, quietly, she lowered her head. “I remember your face,” she murmured. “So clearly. Maybe I’m wrong…somehow. I want to be. But when I close my eyes, when I think back to that day…it’s your face I see.”

Mickey shuddered. He felt nauseous, more so than before. “Min…if…if that’s true, I shouldn’t be here,” he stuttered. “I shouldn’t be with you. What if there’s something I don’t know? What if I hurt you again? What if-”

Before he could utter another word, he found himself silenced by her lips pressed against his. A sweet, trembling sort of kiss that he felt he should escape from. He didn’t deserve it, after all. Didn’t deserve her, let alone her affections. But it was so gentle, so kind, so trusting…it made him feel like all his mistakes were swept away. He fell back against the snow, wings splayed to his sides, and she was there on top of him, pulling her lips away only when he had relaxed completely.

“You said you wanted to put things right,” she breathed, his chin cradled in her hand as she lay atop his chest, looking down at him with deep pools of affection. “I don’t see how you plan to do that if you leave.”

Mickey chuckled lightly. Only Minnie could so quickly turn his guilt to gladness, or her fear to boundless faith. “A’right, you’ve convinced me,” he murmured, her kiss still tingling on his lips. He studied her eyes, those oceans of relentless belief, and sighed. “I will fix it, though.” His voice was more serious now. “I’ll get your memories back. Both of ours. And…an’ I’ll put things right. No matter what I’ve gotta do.”

Minnie didn’t respond, only smiled softly and left one more brisk kiss on his lips before finding her way back to her feet. “We should find the others,” she resolved as she brushed off the snow from her dress. Small droplets of blood stained the patches of ice, and she faltered when she stood, holding a hand to her head. “Oh…”

It wasn’t as if Mickey was faring any better, but he scrambled to stand the moment he saw the sway in her stance, and managed to catch her before she lost her balance entirely. “Ya need t’rest first,” he spoke quietly, and wobbled a bit himself. “...ugh…we both do, I think.”

She took a breath, a puff of steam billowing from her lips when she let it out again, and looked back at him. “Any ideas?”

There wasn’t much to go off as far as direction was concerned in this place. The stars were shrouded by clouds, and it wasn’t as if there were any visible roads or signage to point the way to civilization. Mickey frowned, and cast a glance behind him at his wings. Maybe he could…

Tentatively, he tried to spread his feathers, but they got only about halfway open before both his wings seized. He gasped and lurched forward, Minnie turning back around to catch him this time. “Gosh…I’m useless, aren’t I?” Mickey laughed, gripping her shoulder to steady himself, but he wasn’t really joking.

“Oh, stop that,” Minnie scolded. “You’re only hurt because of me, anyway.” He opened his mouth to argue–she had, after all, only hurt him because he had done such a horrible thing–but she hushed him before he could say a word. “-and don’t try to argue. I’m too tired to play that game.”

Mickey laughed a bit at her resolve, then lifted his eyes to the horizon. There had to be something here that could lead them to shelter. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something peeking through the snow. He squinted, and realized it was a piece of fencepost, most of its shape hidden by the drifts. With a wrinkle of his nose, he tilted his head and glanced to his left, wondering if…ah! Yes, there was another, just the tip of the wood visible.

“What is it?” Minnie asked curiously, noticing his sudden fascination with the surrounding area.

He grinned, spotting another fencepost, and then another, and knowing that just over the next hill, they would lead to a crumbling little barn. “I know this place!” he yipped cheerfully, and began to pull her along, their feet crunching through the snow. “There’s a spot up ahead we can rest ‘til mornin’.”

Though the area was familiar, it was hardly recognizable. It took Mickey a bit longer than he’d expected to find what they were looking for, mainly because the barn in question was halfways covered by snow and was easily missed from a distance, especially in the dark. But when he had finally caught sight of the dull, brown wood and the decrepit silo just beside, he smiled and scooped Minnie up in his arms. She yelped, protesting his efforts because he “was just as tired as she was, and needed to rest too,” but he was tired of feeling helpless, and since the cold had dulled his pain at least somewhat, he figured he’d put the momentary comfort to good use.

“Nonsense, m’lady,” he’d countered with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, and spun her around in the snow for good measure, just to show her he was perfectly fine. In truth, the motion made him quite queasy and threw him a bit off balance, but he didn’t share that part. She giggled, and he thought if that laugh was all he had to live on, he’d be practically immortal.

The barn’s door had long since been blocked by the snow, but part of the roof had caved in and made for the perfect entrance. This, of course, meant that the inside of the barn was largely coated with ice as well. But there was a little corner towards the back where the boards had fallen just right, and had shielded the place from the elements for the most part. It was here that Mickey leapt into, softening his fall with what little flutter of his wings he could manage. He set Minnie down as if she were a princess (which, of course, she was ) and the patch of hay her grand, silk bed.

“Welcome to your chambers, Your Highness,” he bowed playfully and strangely, though this nook was shrouded in shadow, she could make out his form just fine.

Mickey had been busy flourishing, and only noticed her curious stare when he finally uprighted himself and opened his eyes. “Er…you can laugh, y’know?”

Minnie shook her head, flushing as though he’d caught her doing something quite embarrassing. “Sorry, sorry!” she giggled, then shook her head and started staring all over again. “It’s just…well…you’re beautiful.”

“Eh?” Mickey wrinkled his nose, not quite sure if that was a compliment or a joke at his expense. But then he caught a glimpse of his reflection in a small portion of the window to his right, surprisingly still intact, and realized what she had meant.

His body emanated with a faint glow. Nothing too striking, not a fiery blaze or harsh gleam. But something like candlelight…a gentle thrum of warmth and comfort. In the places where his fur was showing, upon his head and through the tears in his tunic, small speckles glittered like starlight against the black. And his wings…

Those sparkled most of all. Even injured, they shone brilliantly, each plume a calm brown that faded into a milky white. He swallowed as he took it in. It was his first time seeing himself since he’d transformed. For so long, he’d dreaded even encountering a fairy. So now, knowing he was one, and had been all along…

Well, he wasn’t sure what to think.

When the first hints of the truth had started to seep through–his venomous reaction to silver, the comments of everyone at the castle, and Fand’s remark about hidden wings–he’d been so afraid to accept the possibility. He’d thought Minnie vastly opposed to the fae, and feared what she might think if she’d thought those rumors true. But…they were true. He was proof of that now, standing before her in a splendor he wished he could hide.

But there was fascination in her eyes, and a calm wonder as she drank in the sight.

Then she shivered, frost forming on her fur, and Mickey shook off his reservations as he knelt beside her. Even shielded from the weather, it was still far too cold for her here. He bit his lip, thinking of a way to change that. Fairies had magic, right? Surely he could use it. He narrowed his focus on a stray piece of splintered wood just across from them, and stretched out a hand.

Fire! He thought, and willed it to burst into flames. But it remained cold as ever. He tried again, and still nothing, though Minnie was now looking at him like he was crazy.

“Erm…what are you doing?” she laughed, crinkling her nose.

“Tryin’ to start a… FIRE! ” Mickey replied, and shouted that last bit as he started intently at the piece of wood. It only stared back, or so he thought, with a taunting little expression. He was about to try again when Minnie caught his arm.

“Careful, tiger,” she winked. “I don’t think that’s how this works.”

“Well, then how else am I s’posed to keep ya warm?!” he shouted back, and it took him about a minute before he caught the mix of embarrassment and humor that flushed Minnie’s cheeks. “W-wait…I didn’t mean…”

“I didn’t say you did!” Minnie yelped back, voice squeaking a bit more than usual.

“Not that I wouldn’t-”

“Mmhm!”

“Then again, I don’t see how else…”

Minnie swallowed, and Mickey blushed.

“Gosh, I mean…I guess if it’s just for…y’know…necessity…”

“Ah…yes, necessity…”

“...And it’s all right with you…”

“It is!”

Minnie squealed that last part a bit too loud, and brought her hands to her mouth in sheer embarrassment. Mickey laughed and scratched the spot behind his ears, then flushed deeply.

“Erm…may I?”

Minnie nodded, cheeks cherry red, and Mickey took a place in the hay beside her. His warmth flared, and so did his glow, which he really wished he could dim just slightly. Nevertheless, he reached first for her hand, which then became her shoulder, then her hip, until she had moved entirely into his grasp as he leaned up against wall. “Better?” he breathed, as she curled herself up in his lap, her head resting against his chest.

She hummed contentedly, and Mickey smiled, bringing a wing around her to shield her from the drafts that seeped through the cracks in the walls. He could feel the rising and falling of her chest against his ribs, her hands as they stroked his fur, and her tail as it intertwined with his.

“Mickey?” she breathed quietly after a few minutes. Both of them knew they should try to sleep, but neither really wanted to.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you…for everything.”

He scoffed a bit, but tried not to jolt her too much. “For everythin’?” he laughed. “There’s a lotta not-so-good stuff in there, too.”

“Still…” she murmured, and when neither said anything else for some time, she spoke again.

“Do you think those monsters will come back?” she murmured, and when she trembled, Mickey ran his hand through the fur at her back, slipping his hand through the gaps in her corset. She didn’t seem to mind. “The Sidhe. They…they seemed different this time.”

Mickey didn’t have the heart to tell her about what he’d seen in the dragon’s crypt. About how cruel they could really be, or the one named Magica who seemed to be pulling their strings. He’d have to tell her about Fand eventually, of course. He’d made a promise. But for now…he’d been the cause of enough fear and heartache today. All he really wanted to do was make her feel safe, however much an illusion true safety might be.

“You’ve got a song for that, right?” he asked with a tad of selfish intent. “Y’know…one to keep us hidden.”

Minnie stirred, and he could feel her cheeks get warm. “...You remember that?”

Ah. He’d never exactly told her that, since she’d first sung it for him, he’d passed by her cottage every twilight just to hear her sing. So he cleared his throat, neglecting to share that minor detail. “’Course I do. I…well, I think ‘bout that night a lot, I guess.”

“So do I…” she murmured softly, and was quiet for a few moments before continuing. “...but I’ve got other songs too, you know.”

“Do ya really?”

“Mmhm…”

“Like what?”

“Well,” she breathed. “I’ve got a song that can make a flower blossom, and…and another that can make you fall asleep, and-”

“Ah, I like that one.”

“Hm?”

Mickey yawned. “The one that can make y’fall asleep. ‘sa lullaby, I bet, right?”

“Well, yes…only, it makes me a bit tired, too…”

“Think you could try?”

“Well, I…I suppose…”

Try she did, in a soft and dreamy sort of voice, and Mickey listened with great contentment as the lullaby echoed against the barn walls. It did make him drowsy, and his lids grew heavy after only a few short seconds. But he was a fairy, and he’d counted on that revelation to resist her charms as he listened intently, and stroked her back all the while.

She’d been singing for hardly two minutes when her words grew slurred and drowsy. Then, after a particularly lovely note, they dissolved entirely. Minnie’s body relaxed, and her breaths slowed into a gentle rhythm of their own. To Mickey, they were just as sweet a sound as her song had been.

From up in the rafters–the few that remained at least–a raven ruffled its feathers and stared down at them. Mickey, having been studying the way Minnie’s lips opened just slightly with every breath, looked up briefly and caught its eye. What are you lookin’ at? He mouthed with a small smirk gracing his mouth, and shook his head in amusement as it leapt up in a sort of startled hop, and took back to the sky.

It was only a few minutes more before Minnie’s enchantment caught up to Mickey, too and, hand still light against her back, he gave into his heavy lids and fell asleep.