Work Text:
Apple held tightly to Courtly’s hand as the two meandered along the stone path through the meadow. The sunshine beamed down on her face, and the wind gently curled her hair. Apple loved springtime. “This is so nice,” she remarked, maintaining her leisurely pace. “I was getting a little tired of all that cold.”
“I think the weather is quite strange here in Ever After. It’s so… orderly.” Back in Wonderland, where Courtly had lived for all but the past few months, it always was always different weather from day to day. Sometimes, it snowed, rained, sunned, and fogged all in just one minute. Courtly wasn’t sure what she liked better.
Apple took in the clear blue sky. “Well, it is tiresome when you have to deal with winter for so many months, but I like the seasons. You can really enjoy the weather without worrying about things changing on you.”
Courtly nodded, seeing her point. “Sometimes I think it’s good to have a little mixture in your life, but I can see the benefits of this. Is spring your favorite, Apple?”
That required some thought. Apple paused in her walk. “I actually don’t know. I love spring, because everything is so alive, but summer is nice too because it’s warmer. And then fall is lovely because that’s harvest season.” Apple always ate loads of apples in the fall. “I suppose that even winter has its charms. The snow is pretty and it’s refreshing.”
Again, like she was every day, Courtly was struck by Apple. At first, Apple had seemed rather unrelenting to Courtly, but Courtly had since seen how the girl was becoming more and more accepting by the day, making drastic progress in leaps and bounds. She’d come to see how Apple was able to rule a kingdom through grace and fairness, not utter control like the jester had tried to do. Apple was kind and compassionate to her subjects. She was undeniably similar to Courtly, but she was also everything that she wasn’t and everything she wanted to be.
The two stood for a moment, taking in the atmosphere of spring. Courtly released Apple’s hand to bend down and grab a soft, pink flower that was growing along the side of the path. Twirling it nimbly in her fingers, she presented it to Apple as a gift, like a jester always did for their queen. But Apple took the flower and tucked it behind Courtly’s ear instead, and Courtly felt her heart fill to bursting.