Fic: So Much More Than They've Got Planned
Title: So Much More Than They've Got Planned - Prologue
Pairing: Santana/Brittany
Rating: PG - PG-13
Summary: Brittany's dream has always been to leave her tower to see the magical floating light thingies that only appear once a year for herself. Now that a cunning theif has fallen into her lap, her dream may just come true. But is the world as cruel as her mother always said? Should she really put her trust in Naya Rivera, the infamous Veiled Fairy? Things are about to get hairy...literally.
Glee/Tangled AU.
Spoilers: Season One and all of Season Two are up for meshing into this.
This is my first dive into writing a multi-chapter fanfic as well as even attempting Brittana. But with my love of San and Britt and my love of Tangled, I think I'll pull through well enough. The fic was also posted on FF.Net under my other alias, Helltothenaw. Look it up and leave a review yo!
This is dedicated to my great Beta, makel0venotwar7 , for helping me work all this fangirling into a real flow of words.
Title is from Beauty & The Beast's "Belle Reprise" because I'm cool like that.
Me gusta comments, just fyi.
This is the story of how I died...
Except, you know, I'm really not into the whole "death" thing.
One, it's a total downer and two, that was so last year and I do not bode well with last season's goods. Either way, it is one hell of a story to tell after a few drinks... Truth is, though, this story isn't even mine. It's really the story of a girl named Brittany, and it starts with the sun.
Once upon a time...God, I can't believe I'm even saying that. Anyway, once upon a time, a single drop of sun light fell from the heavens, and from this small drop of sun grew a magic golden flower. It flourished in it's new home on earth and soon developed the ability to heal the sick and injured.
A beautiful, golden flower waved gently in the evening breeze, silently overlooking the large lake in the distance from its solitary perch high on a cliff. Suddenly, a sickly green light broke through the tall bushes surrounding the enchanted flower. Tired groans broke the silence of the night as an old feeble body pushed it's way past the overgrown bush branches. The figure revealed itself to be a white haired old woman who steadily pressed past the greenery, hunched form moving at a slow pace. Her eyes gleamed with a mixture of glee and greed at the sight of the golden flower before her. Her gnarled hand shot out from under her dark cloak, and, all but dropping her lantern out of excitement, she reached out towards the mystic plant's entrancing aura, a crooked smile on her withered face.
The old crone there? Yeah, remember her, she's kind of important to all of this.
So, generations passed and a few miles across the lake from the flower's cliff there grew to be a kingdom. The kingdom of McKinley was ruled by the beloved King and Queen, William and Holly. And the Queen, well, she was about to have a baby and then she got sick; real sick.
Soldiers donning red, white and gold royal army uniforms surrounded the royal bed as they looked on at the King and Queen quietly conversing. Will sat at his wife's bedside, one of her hands clasped lovingly between his two, as she took distanced, labored breaths. He murmured something to her and Holly smiled slightly, or perhaps winced, opening her mouth to respond only to be cut off by a body-racking cough. Her eyes clenched shut at the pain, her free hand moving quickly to cover her mouth as the coughing continued. Will gave Holly's hand a comforting squeeze as he turned to give the doctor, standing diligently at the foot of the bed, a pleading look. The husky brunette met his gaze with sadness written on her face, and dejectedly shook her head.
The Queen was running out of time, and that's usually when people start praying for a miracle or, in this case, when they start looking for a magical golden flower.
The old woman peered through the darkness over the cliff's edge at the numerous boats docking at the small lake shore below. Soldiers and McKinley citizens alike stepped from the crafts, lanterns in hand, and branched out searchingly in every direction. They were looking for something. Something special. Something precious. Something that, to this woman, was not theirs to be found. She sneered down at the people for a few moments before turning away to face a peculiar looking bush. Her lowly lit lantern was placed carelessly at the bush's side before her worn hands lifted and moved the well woven leaf basket to reveal the, her, coveted golden flower. She grinned wickedly, hands pulling back her cloak's hood to reveal her weathered face and white hair.
Told you the crone would be important. Y'all really need to listen to me about things.
See, instead of sharing the sun's gift, this woman, Terri, hoarded the flower's healing power and used it to keep herself young for hundreds of years. And all she had to do was sing a special song.
...Yeah, I didn't buy it at first either, just watch.
Terri smirked devilishly at the softly glowing flower before moving the palms of her hands to hover just above it's golden petals. A deep breath of anticipation was taken before she let her voice ring out.
"Flower, gleam and glow. Let your power shine. Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine." The flower's petals shimmered at the words, and it's aura grew into wisps of light that danced hauntingly around Terri's fingers. Her wrinkled and sun spotted skin began to clear and tighten, taking on a healthy glow as she continued her song.
"Heal what has been hurt, change the Fate's design. Save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine. What once was mine..." Her voice, once weak and shaky, grew firm and steady as she leaned into light that the flower was emitting. Terri's hands waved more of the enchanted essence towards her face, and as it reached her, white hair turned to dirty blonde, wrinkles smoothed, and dull steel eyes brightened to blue.
Alright, so you get it. She sings to it, she turns young, Creeper von Creeping-ton. Do not even ask how she knew what the song was that would turn that thing on. Grandma obviously had a hell of a lot of time on her hands.
Terri took a confidant sniff and surveyed the work the enchantment had done to her skin when her musings were interrupted by yelling in the distance, growing closer and louder by the second. Hastily, Terri threw her cloak hood back over her head and replaced the woven bush over her golden treasure before grabbing her lantern and turning to run in the opposite direction of the oncoming searchers. Unknown to the wicked woman, she had knocked over her carefully constructed hiding device with her lantern in her haste, leaving the sun blessed flora to gleam proudly through the darkness. Like a beacon of hope in the dark night; a beacon of hope that was shining just enough for passing soldiers to catch sight of it.
A soldier pushed past the bushes to find the golden flower shimmering at his feet. He smiled and let out a joyous whoop and exclaimed to the heavens, "We've found it!" He called over his shoulder at a few other, much taller, men dressed similarly to himself and together they carefully dug around the flower and put it, along with a large amount of soil, into a bag. Not too far away, Terri glared at the soldiers and memorized the blazing sun insignia of McKinley that they donned on their armor, swearing that they would pay for touching her precious.
The flower, much to the ire of Terri, was taken back to McKinley and used in a special concoction made by the royal doctor. King William gave the Queen the concoction himself, helping her to drink the warm, oddly glowing liquid slowly while silently praying to any listening entity for this, his last hope, to work. It was a few short days later that William, and the kingdom, found that some legends are very, very real.
The magic of the golden flower healed Holly and a healthy baby girl, a princess, was born with beautiful golden hair. Hair even more golden than that of her mother; hair that shone like the sun.
A blue eyed, blonde bundle of energy reached her chubby arms up towards the plush cat hanging from the mahogany baby mobile while gurgling happily, blissfully unaware she was being watched. Holly and Will chuckled softly at their daughter's antics, lovingly observing as she gave a frustrated grunt and gave up her attempt to reach the cat in favor of rolling side to side while flailing her tiny limbs in some sort of dance. The Queen hugged her husband then moved closer to her child's crib, smiling brightly down at the baby when she finally took notice of her mother and reached out for her.
Mother took daughter into her arms, lifting her from her crib, holding her close and nuzzling her cheek into her baby's lovingly. Will kissed both Holly and the baby's foreheads before placing a glittering, jewel studded tiara on his princess's head. The child curiously looked up at her bangs, searching for the weight just placed on her head before the golden band slipped down over her eyes, causing her to giggle happily at the surprise.
For some of the slower people out there, here's a hint: That's Brittany.
And so to celebrate her birth, the King and Queen launched a flying lantern into the sky in honor of the sun that had gifted them the Queen's health, and their beautiful princess.
Holly cradled Brittany in the crook of her arm as she smiled over at her husband who was lighting the white and purple paper lantern. Their sun insignia flared wonderfully across the front of the lantern, letting all who saw it know just where it came from. Will returned his wife's smile and, with the help of Holly's free hand, gently pushed the lantern, starting it's ascent into the beautiful, clear blue sky. Brittany, enraptured, watched the lantern float, making sounds that could only be described as joy.
For that one moment, everything was perfect...
And then that moment ended.
All was still in Brittany's nursery, moonlight flooded the room from the glass doors that lead to her small balcony facing the lake. Shadows left odd looking shapes across the room, all mere tricks of the moonlight, except for one, a lone black figure moving stealthily towards the princess's crib.
"Flower, gleam and glow, let your power shine." The child's hair took on an other worldly glow, energy flowing through the strands at the beckoning of the figure's words. Hands reached from the figure, shifting the shadowy form to reveal the face of a once again aging Terri. She continued her mystic saying as her healing hands took a lock of Brittany's hair into her grasp.
"Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was..." Scissors were brandished by the woman's other hand and swiftly cut the child's lock of hair to keep as her own. "WHAT?" Terri could barely keep her surprised screech to herself as she saw that the lock of her flower was no longer glowing like the sun but was as brown as the King's own hair. She gasped, eyes widening in fear as the hand holding the now normal hair rapidly aged to that of an old woman once more. Terri dropped the scissors in shock and they fell to the tile with a clatter that cut through the silence of the night, frightening the child before her awake. Before the old woman could make a move to stop her, Brittany let out a deafening wail, signaling Terri's presence.
Terri could hear the King and Queen quickly rousing from their slumber in the next room and so, acting purely out of need for eternal beauty, she scooped the crying princess into her arms and ran for the glass doors. Will burst through the nursery door only to catch a glimpse of a cloaked figure quickly descending a rope at Brittany's balcony. "WILL! THE BABY!" Holly's cry turned his attention from the balcony to his wife sobbing over an empty crib. He ran as fast as he could to the balcony, but it was too late. The mysterious figure had disappeared into the night, taking Brittany with it.
So Terri broke into the castle, stole the child and just like that, they vanished.
The whole kingdom searched and searched but no matter how hard they tried, no one could find the princess. For deep in the far off forest in a hidden tower Terri raised the child as her own.
Brittany rocked her young four year old body on her stool in front of the warm fire place on beat, singing her mommy's favorite song as the woman gently brushed her glowing hair for her. "Save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine. What once was mine..." The child closed her eyes and simply took in the feel of a brush going through her hair while Terri vainly reveled in her skin taking on the familiar young, healthy glow behind the child.
Terri had found her new magic flower; and this time she was determined to keep it for herself.
"Why can't I go outside?" The child turned her head a bit to look at her mother with questioning eyes. She'd never gone outside her window, but it always looked so pretty; and the duckies in the small stream were so cute that Brittany imagined it could be very fun. Her mother made a small sound at the question and kept brushing the hair in her grasp, eyes flicking to look at the four year old that it belonged to.
"The outside world is a dangerous place filled with horrid, selfish people. You have to stay here, where I can protect you, so you can be safe." Terri gave Brittany a smile. "Do you understand, Flower?" The tiny blonde took a moment, face scrunching up a bit as she pondered her mother's words, before nodding. "Yes mommy." She then turned around completely and gave the older woman a hug. Terri returned the hug halfheartedly, hands running through the locks of her precious, precious flower.
But try as Terri did, the walls of that tower couldn't hide everything from Brittany's curious gaze.
A tiny body crept down the last three stairs, taking care not to make any wood creek as she passed the opened door leading into her mother's room. Brittany crouched slightly as she moved past the doorway, looking into the room to make sure her mother was indeed sleeping - on her side, clutching her pillow and mumbling something as always - before moving swiftly away from the area, with her three feet of hair swooshing softly against the floor behind her moving feet.
Brittany moved to her window and stood on her tippy toes to click open the window's latch before pushing the heavy wooden shutters out of her way, revealing herself to the night of the outside world. The child looked up at the sky in awe, blue eyes shifting this way and that, trying to take in what seemed like millions upon millions of stars that hung above her tower. Finally, her eyes caught sight of some new, unnamed, shining things in the sky and she smiled happily, crossing her arms on the window sill and resting her head on them as she took in the sight of those unnamed glowing lights as they multiplied, floating upwards and apart with a freedom that appealed to her in so many ways.
Each year, on Brittany's birthday, the King and Queen released thousands of lanterns into the sky in the hopes that one day their lost princess would return.
And don't even think of calling that stupid, because those lanterns meant a lot. They meant something to Brittany, the King and Queen, the citizens of McKinley, and..well, even to me.
But, like I said, this is Brittany's story.
I'm just along for the ride.