Princess Tiffany let out a small sigh. What had her life come to? She was led to believe that she would be forever imprisoned in her tall tower until a handsome, dashing knight had come to sweep her off her feet, lower her down the walls onto his steed and then enjoy a romantic ride off together into the sunset and hopefully get married the next day.

Instead of that lovely fairytale, she had been unceremoniously shaken up by a midget woman, who had shouted at her to hurry and had even wiped her perspiration all over the Princess’ fine, silk handkerchief. They were now slowly making their way back through a massive forest, with Amber and Krystal in the front, Taeyeon and the Princess at the back. The one thing Tiffany supposed she was grateful for was the fact that Taeyeon left Krystal unharmed, though Tiffany immediately disregarded the mere suggestion of anyone being able to harm Krystal. That power-wielding girl could turn anyone into an ice sculpture with a click of her fingers.

She exhaled noisily and Taeyeon spared her a sideways glance before ignoring her as she did before. Tiffany almost felt like stamping her feet upon the ground in frustration; what kind of Princess was treated like this? This infuriating midget woman had no right to do that! She noticed that Krystal had migrated to the back of the group and communicated silently with Taeyeon by flicking her head in the direction of the llama. The short blonde understood and ambled forward to the tomboy before they began engaging in their own conversation.

“What’s wrong, unnie?” Krystal asked softly.

“I don’t know, Krystal… I think I’m just a little confused, to put it broadly. This wasn’t really what I imagined my life to be like, and specifically, the way in which I was rescued.”

Krystal laughed before she sighed sympathetically, “Come on, unnie… You know what my job is. I am supposed to be your guard, in a way. I am tasked with the objective of finding you your future husband or whatever, and in a way, that means I have a say over who ever you choose. My instincts told me to give these people a chance, and so I think you should trust me on that.”

“Psh… Are you sure it’s not your affection for Amber over there?” Tiffany teased the younger girl. She laughed to herself as she saw Krystal blush.

“No! Unnie, I do not like that llama,” Krystal defended. “She’s too weird and dorky and she makes me want to hit her all the time.”

“Yet all those attributes don’t seem to deter you from crushing on her,” Tiffany said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Krystal huffed and crossed her arms. Tiffany and Krystal’s attentions were demanded from the front pair as the two made a terrible racket; they were laughing their asses off at some lame joke one of them had told. Krystal turned back to the Princess with a helpless expression.

“You think I’d crush on that?”

“Okay, they both seem really… strange… but unique people are better than boring people, right?”

“I won’t disagree with you there, unnie… maybe the reason I chose to let them go was because they were both women instead of all those fancy knights and whatnot. They weren’t the same thing over and over again.”

“True… maybe I shouldn’t have been so harsh towards her for not being a man,” Tiffany sighed.

“It’s not really something she can change, unnie. And besides, it’s not her you’re marrying, it’s the King person their working for.”

“I think that’s where I’m confused, Krystal,” Tiffany confessed. “If this King really wanted me, wouldn’t he have been the one to rescue me?”

“… I think I would have frozen him on the spot. If he’s too spineless to even try and rescue you, then he’s no better than these two here.”

“Aigoo… this is too confusing, Krystal,” Tiffany groaned. “Go talk to Amber. I’ll try to sort my head out.”

“So Princess Hwang,” Amber called down the line when she saw Krystal approaching her, “are you excited to meet your Prince tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” Tiffany cried out in shock. “It’ll take that long?”

She turned to see the position of the sun, and sure enough, it was barely hovering above the many trees that lined the horizon. She shared a look of horror with Krystal before stuttering, “Sh-Shouldn’t we make camp?”

“No, that’ll take longer,” Taeyeon emphasised sarcastically. “We can keep going.”

“But… but there are robbers in the woods!”

“Don’t worry Princess,” Amber laughed. “Between Krystal and me here, we’re probably going to be the scariest things in the forest!”

Fear had clouded Tiffany’s mind; she really needed to find a suitable shelter before dark. Without thinking, she had rushed up straight into the blonde’s face and set the birds flying for their lives with an ear-piercing scream, “We need to find somewhere to camp NOW!”

---

A loud grating noise pounded upon their ears as both Amber and Taeyeon strained their muscles to push a huge boulder aside; it was blocking the way to what seemed like a small shelter made by several big rocks piled on top of one another, creating a small space in which they thought the Princess could stay in.

“Over here, Princess!” Taeyeon shouted dully as she spotted the Princess staring off into the sky.

“You know, I don’t think this is fit for a princess,” Amber frowned. At those words, Tiffany turned around and laughed nervously.

“No, no, it’s perfect. I-It just needs a few homey touches.”

“Homey… touches?” Taeyeon repeated confusedly. “Like what?”

There was a loud crackling noise from a nearby tree as Krystal ripped a section of the bark off. She waited for Tiffany to quickly run in before she entered the small, rocky “house” and closed off the opening with the slab of bark.

“A door, she needs a door,” Krystal said quietly. “Well, goodnight, unnies.”

“Yes, goodnight,” the Princess said, her voice slightly muffled inside the shelter.

“Um, you guys want me to come in and read you a bedtime story? ‘Cause I will,” Amber offered helpfully.

“I said GOODNIGHT!” came the loud scream they had come to associate with the Princess. Taeyeon raised her eyebrows distastefully and started edging the boulder back to its original position.

“Yah noona, what are you doing?”

“I just… you know,” Taeyeon grinned playfully before she saw Amber’s stricken face. “… Aw come on! I was just kidding!”

---

Amber and Taeyeon were both lazing around under the brightly lit sky, staring peacefully at the many twinkly lights the dark blanket overhead provided. A fire flickered merrily in the middle of the camp, which offered loud crackles and welcoming warmth.

“So um, noona…” Amber finally whispered after many minutes of companionable silence.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“What do you think of Tiffany noona?”

“…”

The air around them seemed to get awkward, and Amber fidgeted uncomfortably in her spot, “Um, if you don’t wanna talk about her, then that’s okay, you don’t have to-“

“No, no it’s okay, Amber,” Taeyeon said quietly. “I don’t… I don’t really know. I’m sort of… sad.”

Amber just turned her head to look at Taeyeon, wordlessly urging the other to continue talking as the blonde just stared up into the sky, deep in thought.

“I’m sad because… because it seems like she’s judging me. She doesn’t even know me, and she’s judging me just for being a woman instead of some handsome knight in shining armour. I don’t even… I don’t know how to explain it properly. It’s just clawing at my chest and I can’t do anything about it. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

Amber merely reached over to pat her noona’s shoulder comfortingly, “Yeah, I get you, noona. But it’s okay, you don’t have to be a handsome knight. You’re a pretty noona just like this, and if it’s not good enough for her, then I don’t know what is.”

Taeyeon chuckled throatily, “Psh, you flirty dongsaeng. But thanks, really.”

"Besides, you shouldn't have to worry about her too much. The King is the one that's marrying her, not you."

"Yeah... thank god for that."

The two smiled at each other before both laid back on their backs and closed their eyes, ready to let the softness of sleep envelope them.

They just didn’t know that a certain someone had just listened to their whole conversation sadly.

---

Tiffany quietly exited her small shelter and stretched, smiling to the view of the beautiful morning. A soft bout of snoring caught her attention and she looked back to see Taeyeon and Amber both sleeping on the ground with a log for a pillow.

“Hello everyone, I’m Taeyeon!” Taeyeon suddenly shouted.

Tiffany froze on the spot, unsure of what to do until she noticed that Taeyeon was actually still sleeping. She couldn’t help but giggle at the randomness of the short girl; her unconscious actions were very endearing.

She danced through the nearby trees, twirling around and making her dress float high up. Tiffany continued making her way cheerfully through the tall trunks until she spotted a small, blue bird resting upon its nest of sticks. She began to sing beautifully and her rich volumes enticed the bird to sing along with her; it was almost like a challenge between the two to see which of the pair could go the highest as they both slowly went higher and higher when Tiffany decided she would take it to the highest level. She closed her eyes and belted out the highest note she could get to, not noticing that the bird was actually inflating rapidly from its own shrill notes until a small explosion caused her to eyelids to snap open. Blue feathers were floating slowly towards the ground and what remained of the bird’s feet was still clenched tightly on the tree branch; a slight sizzling noise accompanied the white smoke rising towards the air. Tiffany was shocked and looked pitifully at the eggs nestled between the feet before taking it and making her way back to camp.

---

A delicious, warm smell reached Taeyeon’s nose and it twitched slightly to take in the new scent before she let out a huge yawn and sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She looked over to the sound of something being fried and she spotted the Princess kneeling down and tending to some eggs. She sat bolt upright and shook Amber violently as the latter mumbled in her sleep.

“Oh yeah you know I like it like that… Aw c’mon baby, I said I like it- Yah! What? What is it noona?”

“Good morning,” Tiffany smiled as she heard the commotion Amber was making. A soft yawn emitted from Taeyeon’s right and she glanced over to see that Krystal had emerged from the rocky shelter.

“Good morning,” the other three chorused together automatically after they heard Tiffany’s greeting.

“So um, how do you like your eggs?” Tiffany asked Taeyeon while giving her a nervous grin. It was obvious that she felt a little uncomfortable towards the short woman.

“Um wait, what’s this for?” Taeyeon asked.

“Well… we kind of got off to a bad start yesterday, and… I wanted to make it up to you. I mean, after all, you did rescue me,” Tiffany said happily. She placed the eggs down in front of the other three.

“Uh… thanks,” Taeyeon said bashfully. Tiffany had to suppress another smile from the sight of Taeyeon acting all embarrassed after the show she put up the day before.

“Well, eat up,” Tiffany said. “We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”

Krystal called out a “thank you” before she started digging in, while Amber and Taeyeon both shared a mystified look; Amber shrugged and began inhaling her portion. Taeyeon couldn’t tear her eyes away as she watched the Princess twirling gracefully on the spot while staring dreamily out into the distance. A sharp pain in her side made her realise that Amber had just elbowed her and was now giving her a weird look.

“Are you okay there, noona?”

“Huh?”

“Is the Princess’s beauty too stunning for noona to comprehend? Hohoho,” Amber laughed lightly as she dodged Taeyeon’s flailing hand, but failed to see Krystal’s own arm coming into contact with her head. Taeyeon’s lips twitched at the amusing sight; it was as if Amber and Krystal were a couple, and Krystal kept Amber in line whenever the llama stepped past her boundaries.

“You should be more respectful towards your unnie, stupid,” Krystal said, hand still in the air threateningly.

 “Yes, Princess,” Amber replied meekly, her own palms in the air as a gesture of defence. Krystal’s eyelid jumped, but she let it pass. Taeyeon laughed to herself; it was funny to see the change that llama went through from the first day Taeyeon had met her – she had transitioned from a wild, teasing, playful tomboy to this submissive, tame llama.

“Come on, hurry up llama,” Krystal said. “We have to bring unnie back to your king guy.”

“Yes, Krystal,” Amber sighed. The trio threw away their temporary nature-friendly utensils and did a little stretching before they were ready to continue on their journey.

Taeyeon wanted to hang back and talk with Amber again, but this time both the tomboy and Krystal pushed the short blonde to the front towards Tiffany.

“What, why?” Taeyeon whined.

“You should talk to her, noona,” Amber grinned. “It’d be good for you guys.”

“You really should,” Krystal said more sincerely. “I think she wants to apologise more for yesterday.”

“Me and Krystal will just stay at the back and jump in if you guys start a cat fight or something,” Amber laughed before getting whacked by Krystal.

“Aigoo…” Taeyeon sighed before she marched up to Tiffany, who was about ten metres in front of them.

Taeyeon had never found a better time to admire the ethereal settings as she struggled to start up a conversation with the Princess. There were small shrubs dotting the side of the dirt path, thick and thin tree trunks lined up every few metres, huge boulders lay scattered along the landscape and to top it off, soft rays of light fell upon them, the mesmerising effect having been multiplied by the leaves swaying overhead lazily in the wind.

“Um, hello Princess,” Taeyeon said cautiously. She wasn’t sure if she was prepared to deal with the snob from yesterday.

“Hello, Taeyeon,” Tiffany smiled, and all Taeyeon could do was stare at that bright eye-smile the Princess displayed unashamedly on her face. It was the way her eyes seemed to form a curve just to further accentuate her happiness; it was enough to melt your insides and make you feel giddy, like you had just done some great deed. And this great deed was making Tiffany eye-smile at you. Suddenly, Taeyeon felt a stab of jealousy towards the King. He was to acquire this woman, the epitome of beauty and without even lifting his .

Best feeling evah~ Taeyeon’s subconscious rejoiced. She unknowingly gazed at Tiffany until the smiling Princess said, “You can call me Tiffany, or even Fany, if you like.”

“T-Tippani,” Taeyeon repeated hesitantly, to which Tiffany replied with an adorable giggle. It was strange, really – the giggle heightened Taeyeon’s sense of embarrassment, yet had melted it away in nearly the same instant.

“You have to pronounce the ‘f’ more, Taeyeon,” Tiffany laughed. “Like this: ‘ffff’.”

Taeyeon frowned in concentration and started mumbling the ‘f’ sound to herself while Tiffany continued smiling in amusement at Taeyeon’s determination to enunciate a single letter clearly.

“Ffff… Tippani. Tipfani. Fffff. Tifffffani. Tiffany,” Taeyeon said proudly. “Tiffany!”

“Well done, Taeyeon,” Tiffany congratulated the blonde. “Hey… can I call you TaeTae?”

“TaeTae?” Taeyeon mumbled in bewilderment. “Why that?”

“Because it’s not as formal as Taeyeon, and I’d like to become closer with you after that embarrassing side I displayed to you yesterday,” Tiffany confessed. “I’m really sorry for that.”

“Hey, it’s okay, Tippani,” Taeyeon said soothingly; she unthinkingly grabbed Tiffany’s hand in an attempt to let the red-haired girl know that Taeyeon had forgiven her. “Aigoo, Tiffffffany. Pani. Fany?”

“You’re really cute, TaeTae,” Tiffany smiled; Taeyeon blushed and immediately dropped the hand before she turned her head to the side to avoid Tiffany’s gaze. “You can call me whatever you like.”

“Maybe I should stick with Princess… it’s easier to pronounce,” Taeyeon joked. She could not describe the sudden comfortableness she felt next to the Princess now. Just yesterday, the Princess had been throwing a temper like a snotty brat, yet now…

“But then that makes me feel weird.”

“Weren’t you the one who was causing a storm because you weren’t being treated like one?”

“Yes… I’m sorry…”

When the Princess hung her head sadly, Taeyeon felt overwhelming levels of guilt suddenly bloom in her stomach. She didn’t understand herself; one minute she was whining to Amber about how bad she was being treated by the Princess, and the next she felt like a monster for wiping the smile from the Princess’ face. What?

“Ah I was kidding Fany-ah!” Taeyeon cried. “Oh hey, I said your name right! Wait, I mean, I’m sorry, I was only kidding…”

“TaeTae, you’re too cute!” Tiffany laughed loudly before she wrapped up the blonde in a tight, yet soft hug. Taeyeon was surprised by the sudden warmness and physical contact, but before she could do anything, the feelings disappeared and she was graced by Tiffany’s shining eye-smile.

“You know, Princess… you’re not exactly what I had expected.”

After that fiery temper you showed me yesterday, Taeyeon added in the back of her mind.

“Well… maybe you shouldn’t judge others before you actually get to know them,” Tiffany smirked. She was actually sort of quoting the blonde, but Taeyeon didn’t seem to realise. She could only unconsciously return the smile back at the Princess, who happily ran forward a few steps to laugh and spin around dizzily on the spot at the same time.

At that moment, three things happened simultaneously. There was a loud manly yell, a noisy thump and like magic, the Princess disappeared right in front of Taeyeon’s eyes.

---

A/N: Okay hi guys. I felt really 'ugh' while writing this, but I felt terrible for not updating in a while, so um, yeah! Hopefully it wasn't... that bad... -coughs-

Please subscribe and comment, even if it's just to bash me for not updating regularly on a fixed basis. Love you all, <3