His Happiest Memory - Part 1

High in the broken tower, the little boy curled into a ball as the cold wind whistled through the broken shutters, cutting through the thin material on the bed. Outside, in the distance, was the joyous sound of drums and fireworks, all the world celebrated except in the most isolated corner of the palace.

Tonight was his first night alone. His mother was now truly dead. Killian willed himself not to think about her and ordered himself to fall asleep. He must grow up quickly to survive. Slowly, he began to drift off.

In the noisy night, a small, strange green ball fluttered through the window. It glowed softly, hidden in the night by the flashier fireworks.

In a blink of an eye, the little ball became larger until a little girl ran through it and hopped down to the floor.

She was a pretty little thing, with a bowl haircut and a pink jacket that kept her comfortably warm. A shock of bright red hair peaked through her little cap as she turned around. She was just seven years old with an insatiable curiosity that made even the most patient man want to throw himself off a cliff just to avoid the litany of "whys".

She stared at her surroundings, scratching her head, "Strange." She muttered and bounded to the window, "Woahhhhh" She said, "So high." After a moment, her attention turned back to the little room

The little girl spied the masks on the table and ran to them, "Pretty!" she exclaimed. One was a monkey and the other was dotted with roses. Looking carefully between the two, she threw the one with roses out the window and held onto the one with the monkey.

It was not long before she spied the huddled figure on the bed. Curiously the little girl walked up to the sleeping child. Long hair flowed to the child's shoulders, half of his pale face was covered by a dark blue cloth.

She leaned in and looked over curiously. "What a pretty little girl. Maybe we can be friends."

The person on the bed frowned in their sleep and the little girl quickly used her hand to smooth out the frown, her mother did this for her all the time.

What a strange and unfamiliar feeling. Killian thought sleepily as the first hint of warmth flowed from his forehead. The furrowed brow relaxed as bit by bit, the warmth enveloped his body.

This wasn't right, thought, he was suddenly alert. A little shadow loomed over his face, humming. His hand closing around a knife hidden in the covers, he never slept without it.

Her little pudgy hand patted his forehead, she looked puzzled, "Why are your eyes covered?" She reached with her little hand for the blue cloth that covered the sleeping child's face.

A hand grabbed her wrist.

"What are you doing?" Killian's voice cut through the night air.

"Looking are your face." The girl child chirped, "What are you doing?"

The boy's frown deepened, "How did you get here?"

The little girl blinked, "I jumped." She wriggled her hand and pointed at his eye covering, "You're awake now, do you want to take that off? I saw you frowning, is it hurting you?"

Killian's voice was full of scorn and disbelief, "You're a liar, you came to kill me. Who sent you?"

"Am not!" The girl said hotly, "Grandmother said I'm so sweet that I won't even hurt a fly. But dad says that it's because flies are too scared of me."

She glared at him, "And, liars' pants are always on fire. Are my pants on fire?" She demanded as her face came closer to his, "Are they?"

He didn't know how to answer this, and frowned, "Why did you come here then?"

She looked around, "Don't know. Just ended up here. I remember that Mom and dad were driving back from grandmas and I was sitting in the back of the car." She shook her head as if a little confused, "Where am I?"

"You don't know?"

She shook her head.

"The Tower of Isolation, Kingdom of Londaros." He waited for the shriek of disgust, waited for her to push him away and scream in terror. He was lucky that there was very little things for her to throw at him. It was what everyone did.

"Oh." She nodded and scratched her nose.

He wait for her to... wait, what?

Killian looked at her as if she was some strange, alien creature.

"Don't you know who I am?" He tried again.

"The toothy fairy?" She asked with an innocent smile, "I've been waiting."

She dug in her right pocket and pulled out a tiny ivory milk tooth "It fell out yesterday, and mom said that the tooth fairy would come and get it."

"No." He said and stared intensely at her face. He wished for the millionth time that he could see more than just shadows. He wanted to know what strange little creature had entered the tower.

The girl thought for a moment and brightened, "You're a princess right? That's why your hair's so long and you live in a tower." She looked around excitedly, "Is there a dragon guarding you?" Her eyes widened and then she pointed to herself, "I'll be your knight in shinning armor."

She looked at him like he was a piece of candy, her eyes unnecessarily bright, "Dad said that if I am kind then one day I can be a knight. I don't want to be a princess, all they do is sit and look pretty. I want to fight dragons and go on adventures. So today I'll start by rescuing you, princess."

"I'm a prince." A vein popped out of his forehead and he gritted his teeth, "I'm the eldest prince of Londaros." That was as clear as he could make it that he was most the vile and evil abomination. No doubt every child knew him now as the nightmare that parents used to scare them with.

He waited for her to shy away from him and scream in terror.

"You're a boy?" She asked after a moment, disappointed, "But I've always wanted to rescue a princess."

Killian's mouth fell open as this child had once again missed the point.

She wiggled her hand, "My turn. Does that thing hurt you?"

"Yes. It's to stop my eyes from... " He said after a moment and didn't know how to continue.

"Do you want me to take it off for you?" She asked.

He was still in shock that she had not run away from he, and nodded distractedly. She grinned at him, "My momma said that there's a a great way to heal ouchies, I can try."

Killian frowned, "No one can heal my eyes."

She wriggled her fingers, "Can I have my arm back? I need it so I can rescue you and become a knight. Then afterwards I'll take you out of this tower and we'll live happily ever after." She grinned, "You stay home and cook for me while I go on adventures."

He realized that he had held onto her wrist all this time, the strange warmth had flowed from his fingertips through his body. Slowly he undid his fingers from her pink sleeve.

"You should go." He said after a moment. She was impossible and strange. "Sooner or later you'll hate me." She looked at him solemnly and tilted her head, "Why?"

"Because I'm cursed." He said coldly, "I'm a monster."

She sat back on her heels. There was vicious vindication in his heart as he watch the little child lean away from him. He knew it, she was just like everyone else.

Then she surged forward, her little hands griped his ears as she carefully studdied his face, shaking his head as she went, she mumbled to herself, "But you don't even have horns."

"Let go." He said, it came out a little muffled as she had squeezed his cheeks together. Her hands heated his cold skin in a way that was unfamiliar, no one had ever touched his face before. He pushed her away, even though that warmth was the most pleasant thing that he's ever experienced.

"Why?" She asked, quizzical, "I haven't rescued you yet."

A cold smile cleared on his lips, "Rescue me?" He pointed to the cloth that covered his face, "This is an impossible curse, you are just some silly child who found her way into my tower. Get out while I'm still being nice, little fool."

Before she could hate him or hurt him, he would act first. He would make her leave.

He expected her to burst into tears and run away. But once again, she did not act in any way he expected a sane person would.

Instead, she leaned closer to him, "No one calls me silly and gets away with it!" Once again, the stubborn little girl grabbed the equally stubborn little boy by the ears.

"Frogs turn into princes when they're kissed." She muttered to herself as she saw his brows furrow.

He didn't understand a single thing she was saying. Yet the girl continued to mutter to herself, "I hope you don't turn into a frog."

Suddenly, she pulled him close to her. Killian felt the girl reach for him and wanted to struggle, then he worried that he would hurt the child.

Before he knew what she was doing, the little girl bent down and kissed his eyes over the cloth.

The soft lips touched his eyelids through the cloth, the warmth that had spread from her to him now ignited his soul. In the face of such warmth, he didn't know what to do. His mouth fell open as her forwardness and childish innocence threatened to overwhelm him.

"What are you doing?" The boy demanded after she had let go, the warmth of her hands imprinted on his pale face. She patted the cloth over his eyes, "Mama said that kisses make pain go away. That and Neosporin."

Nothing she said made sense, but he was in for another surprise. She grabbed the cloth over his eyes and pulled. He hadn't expected another attack so soon, but knew that it would be futile, "This cloth was made with magic. You won't be able---"

But the words never left his mouth. A rush of fresh air hit his face, touched the skin that had never been touched. The cloth fell to the floor, slowly disintegrating into dust. Killian quickly closed his eyes, scared that if he opened them, his demon eyes would unleash their power on the world. For safe measure, he clapped his hands over his eyes.

"Why won't you open your eyes?" The girl asked curiously as she tried to pry the boy's fingers away from his eyes.

"I'll tell you a secret." The girl scooted up to him and whispered in his ear conspiratorially, "Some people said my eyes have been magicked. That's why they aren't normal either." Her breath ticked his neck as he moved away from her. But she grabbed his arm, "If I let you seem them, you have to let me see yours."

He shook his head, but deep in his heart, he wanted to see what this strange girl's reaction would be to his eyes, "You won't regret it?"

"Nope." The girl said, "Cross my heart, hope to die, drink pickle juice if I lie."

"What's your name?"Killian asked suddenly.

The girl grinned, "It's long and hard to write. Most people call me Cy. What's your name?"

"I'm Killian." He said softly.

She grinned, "Okay, we're friends, now you have to show me your eyes."

The boy didn't know what to make of it, but her tone sounded as if she was earnest. Slowly he removed his hands. And carefully, he opened his eyes.