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Title: A Princess' Voice Summary: Heartbreak told as a bedtime story. "Jeremiah was a bullfrog . . ." The attempt at a lullaby was unnecessary, as the infant was already asleep in his mother's arms. She smiled at him, then looking across the room at the single red rose that had arrived earlier without a note. She had no way to know who had really sent the flower; but she had an idea. As she stared at the rose, as red as her heart, she began to reminisce about the saddest day of her life. Suddenly, the baby's cry pulled her from her reverie. When she looked down, she saw her son staring at her with wide, wet eyes. "Do you want to hear a story, little one?" As if magic, the baby stopped his cry at the sound of her voice. She studied his face, looking at the features that were distinctly his father's. His father?she knew just the story to tell her son. "Once upon a time, there was a prince who lived in a deep, dark cave. No one made him live there; he lived there because he didn't know that he was a prince, and thought that was where he belonged. He believed he was merely a man who had a quest. He thought that his quest was to rescue a princess that had been taken from him long ago, but one day, he would learn that was not all he was to find. You see, one day, another princess was sent to the cave to help the prince on his quest. It was a long and difficult search with many twists and turns. They had many, many surprises along the way. Some were bad surprises; some were wonderful," she stopped, gazing at the infant. "The biggest surprise was when they found that though they thought the quest had ended, they discovered it had only just begun. Remember when I said the prince thought that he was just a man? Well, the princess knew all along that he was a prince. And he was not just any prince, but he was her prince. When he finally realized that too, they decided that they never wanted to be apart from each other, and they wanted to have a family. But it was not meant to be. The princess prayed and prayed for a baby, one who would have eyes like the prince's and hair like her own. But as hard as she and the prince prayed, it seemed like they would never have a baby. The prince told the princess to 'never give up on a miracle,' and she believed. And then one day, she heard wonderful news; she was going to have a baby. A new prince was to be born. But the wonderful news had a dark side. On the same day, her prince disappeared. She looked and looked for him, because she wanted the prince to be as happy as she was to know that they were going to have a baby. Just before the baby was to be born, the prince came back. He told her how much he loved her, and he protected her so that she could have their baby safely. He knew how important the new prince was, and he wanted them all to be safe. For a day, the princess was happier than she ever thought she could be. With her two princes, she thought that nothing could ever make her sad." She stopped. "I don't know if I should tell you the rest, sweet one. It's a sad story." But the baby met his mother's gaze and held it, almost as if he were asking her to continue. "I can't deny you anything else, can I?" She resumed the story. "The princess realized with the help of a wise man that she could not have both of her princes. She knew then that this would be the day her heart would break. In order to keep their little prince safe, the prince she had journeyed so far with had to leave. Though she had enough love for them all, her love could not protect them. She had to send her prince away. Before he left, she broke her heart into two pieces. She told him, 'one piece is for you to carry with you always. One day, when it is safe, it will lead you back to me.' She began to cry. Her prince wiped her tears away, and he broke his own heart in two, giving her a piece of his own heart. 'This piece is for you and for our little prince. If you put it together with the piece of your heart that remains, you'll have a whole heart that will let you love our son. Then he'll have my love, too.' The prince held his son for a moment, kissed him and returned him to his mother. Then the prince kissed the princess for the last time, and he left." As she finished the story, the baby closed his eyes once more and relinquished himself to sleep. After she laid him down in his crib, she whispered "Good night, sweet prince." She then put her hand over her heart to feel the piece that her prince, her Mulder, had left behind for her, his Scully, filled with the hope that their hearts would someday bring them together once more. The End
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