Time for chapter four of A story of a Rose. Sorry it took so long but my writer's ambition died a slow death. And I just hired a new one.

Malia and I spent the rest of that day running around in whatever room the Queen allowed us into, with me trying to both not be a nuisance and look too young to be trying, I probably failed. Malia really wanted to go to the Tree of Life's room, but we had both been forbidden from that by our mothers respectively. But we found plenty to do, such as playing chase again, I even grew a flower in my hair to match her, which she found nice and hugged me for. When my mother and I went home that night she sat me down and we waited for my father to come home, then she asked how I could have met the princess in our dreams. I played with the idea of lying about my ability to sense and sync with the energy in the world. But both them being my parents, and Malia having met me in that semi-astral plane making me think maybe I'm not as strange as I thought. "Rosalee, Princess Amalia claims that the two of you played in the Tree of life's room a few nights ago in your dreams, how is this possible?" Mom asks.

I take a deep, fortifying breath. "I keep having nightmawes, but I w-like sleeping." I start, stumbling with my young vocal cords. "When I try, I can feel the world around me, the animals, plants, even the people, and it makes me feel better. I tried this before going to sleep that night. And then I was floating, and the world pulled me to the Tree of Life. Then I saw Malia floating around and said hi, then we were playing and talking and gave each other nicknames, then we woke up. I promised I would meet her then again the next day, but she was not there, and the tree didn't take me to its room again. So I didn't do anything those nights." I explained, trying to keep my speech as clear as possible.

"You can feel the world?" Dad asks. I scrunch up my face childishly (I hope) and try to find the words to explain.

"Not just the plants but the animals as well?" Mom clarifies. I nod.

"Dear, I think she's able to feel Wakfu." Mom says, and that one word floors me. Memories from Before rush into the forefront, a story about an adventure featuring an old man, a small boy in a blue hat, a redhead with a size changing sarcastic sword, a blond archer, and a green haired princess with the power to manipulate and commune with nature, and this show story was called Wakfu, a name shared with an mom, and sharing a lore with a card game called Krosmaga.*

"What a gift our little girl has, no doubt another blessing from the great Sadida." Father says proudly,but I hardly hear him, even when he lifts me up and hugs me I'm just lost in my realization. I autopilot through the rest of the night finding sleep to be a non issue as my distracted mind has no time to conjure up nightmares of anything.

The next couple years passed in a simple schedule. Go to the royal home with Mom, play with and help Malia as her lady in waiting and first friend, then go home, eat and practice my abilities, now without the trouble of hiding it from my parents, at least the parts that looked innocent to my mind, I didn't show my attempts to grow plants with any purpose in mind, to them I hope it just looked like I was making a messy garden. But when I was left alone, I practiced growing the iconic Brambles, or growing various plants from my doll. So far both actions have been failures. I did however learn how to distinguish who was near me by the feel of their Wakfu, and my doll can now even pick up things almost as heavy as I am and carry them without stumbling. But the first day that this schedule broke was four year later.

"Come on Rosey, I want everyone to see the dresses I made, they'll be so impressed!" Malia says happily, dragging me along, both of us wearing dresses she had made out of plants, hers with a knee length skirt, flowers arranged in a wide ring at the bottom with long red ribbon like petals poking out and curling up a good foot away from her, a green shoulderless top with a pink puffball on the front and topping it all off is a yellow hat with a pink and white, very leafy, flower and a red mushroom. An odd ensemble, but with remarkable craftsmanship for a seven year old. She decided that she wanted to make dresses good enough to be worn by the royal family, and therefore needed to start practicing. And being the good friend, not to mention lady in waiting, I had to help her and wear her second masterpiece. So I am bedecked in a blue skirt looking a bit like an upside down tulip, with a green layered thing over top of it, and a red shouldered top, with purple willowy like branches kinda looking like wings behind me. Again, strange looking, but not uncomfortable in make, but I really don't want to go out in public wearing this get up. Unfortunately, Malia made a royal request of me, so I couldn't refuse… at least I don't think I could.

So now I find myself standing next to Malia and behind green floral print fabric doors, a gaggle of people on the other side, waiting to see what Malia wanted to show them, and wanting nothing more then for the ground to swallow me up. "Is everyone ready?" Malia calls, getting a smattering of "Yes!" from the otherside of the door. She excitedly throws open the doors showing off her new dress with a flourish and a huge smile. I step out quietly behind, being sure not to take up any of her spotlight for two different reasons. Everyone around us, even the two guys that I'm nearly positive are homosexual, rain praise on Malia's taste and flare, tossing in a few comments about her generosity in making a beautiful dress for her lady in waiting as well. The attention, even second hand, causes my face to burn, and me to shuffle my feet. And then… "You look like a gobble." A female voice says suddenly. All sound stops as I get a look at the source of the comment. A taller blonde girl with freckles, pointed ears, and a brown layered skirt, a pink shirt, brown gloves and matching boots is standing front and center, a ring of empty space, her moss green eyes pulled up in… nervousness? Confusion? I'm not quite sure what I'm seeing. But when everyone starts laughing at her comment, my eyes are driven downward in mortification. "Aww, that's so cute Princess Gobbol and her friend the Purple Tofu." One of the audience says, before raucous laughter drowns out all other sounds. I turn to Malia and see her face as red as mine surely is, and without my consent a thick hedge sprouts from the ground, blocking sight of the crowd but doing nothing to stop the sound of laughter. Tears form in the corners of Malia's eyes as she turns and flees, her yellow hat falling to the ground behind her.

I find her in her room a little while after that, having had to fight the silly dress for a moment but deciding to keep the thing on to spare Malia's feelings a bit. I find her in equal parts sobbing and screaming into her pillow and stand a little ways away, here if she needs me, but not in her space if she doesn't.

Eventually she cries herself to sleep, just crumpling up where she sat as her breathing evens out. I walk closer, trying to shift her into a more comfortable sleeping position, It wouldn't do to for a princess to have a crick in her neck after all. And when she finally is resting on her side I draw the blanket up to her shoulders and turn to leave the room. "Rosey?" I hear sleepily behind me.

"Yes Malia?" I reply, turning around.

"Were the dresses really that bad?" She asks, her voice cracking. I stop and think before replying.
"No, I don't think they were bad, maybe a bit too… excited." I say, her eyes growing wide and wet. "But, mine was really comfy, and the stitching didn't poke me, so you did a good job making them, they were just different from what everyone else is wearing." I, hopefully, reassure her. "Then why did that mean girl say I looked like a gobble?" She asks, her eyes hardening.

"Well… She looked like a Cra, they wear sensible and sleek clothing, we probably looked a bit strange to her." I say with a shrug. "Besides, her rudeness just means she doesn't get a dress made by a princess." I say, bowing as a grin split my face. Malia smiles back at me as her eyes droop. "Goodnight princess. I'll see you tomorrow." I say, slinking quietly out of the room.

The next day when Mom and I walk over to be ladies in waiting. I see that the blonde Cra is standing off to the side of the room, Malia giving her the cold shoulder and doing her absolute best to look anywhere but at the older girl. "What's that about?" Mom whispers to me.

"Princess Amalia made dresses yesterday, and the Cra said something mean about them." I reply quietly as we approach. I walk closer to Malia after bowing to the Queen. As we leave the room I notice the Cra following us but decide not to bring it up, this is Evangelyne, Malia needs to be friends with her. Malia decides that today she wants to play Gobbowl, and my heart sinks a bit, I hate the sport with a passion, but if the princess wants to play…

An hour later several other ladies in waiting, the Cra included, are assembled in the courtyard just outside the palace, with catching mitts and the silly looking ball. For most of the session I try my hardest to avoid the ball, or having to run after it, my laziness no longer staved off by boredom. As the game drags on, Malia obviously scoring several points by herself; wink wink, nudge nudge, my mind diggs around in my memories trying to recollect how Malia and Evangelyne made up, but drawing a blank as I collide with another lady in waiting and send us both sprawling, the Gobbowl ball just so happening to roll right in front of Malia.

A week goes by and Malia still refuses to speak to the Cra, even refusing to learn her name as of yet, simply getting me to ferry messages to and from "The Cra." Today Mom tells me that I'm to be on my better than best behavior, because important visitors from another nation are here to discuss with the King. deciding that doing anything to draw attention to myself in the presence of foreign nobles doesn't qualify as "better than best" I gently convince Malia to spending a quiet day in her room, after all grown ups can be boring and get irritated when children make too much noise. So the day was spent in her room, just Malia, me, and the Cra by the door. "But there's nothing to do in my room for a day." Malia whines, bored after the first hour.

"Are you sure? We could tell stories, or... " I say, ready to continue but stopped when Malia's eyes light up and she jumps onto her bed with a cheer.

"What kind of story?" She asks excitedly.

"Well, what kind do you want to hear? One about adventure, a scary story, maybe a tragedy?"

"A story with an adventure, and excitement around every turn!" Malia replies. I scan my memories of before, looking for anything that met her wish, checking anime, books, tv, heck even games I'd played. After a few moments of thinking. I decide to tell a revised version of one of my favourites, A story where hundreds of people were sent to a flying castle to live out adventures as their real bodies lay safe in bed, but after just a few hours the king of the land announced that they would stay in this land, until they reached the top of the castle, and if they were to die in this world, their body at home would die as well. Hours go by, with Malia hanging onto my every word, and out of the corner of my eye I even spot Eva watching me intently. When I get to Kirito standing beside a still comatose Asuna, they both have tears in their eyes and are waiting for her to wake up, but that is when Mom walks into the room and tells me it's time to head home for the night. "NOOO!" Both of them squak, with Eva slapping her hands over her mouth a moment later. "But, but, does she wake up, do they get to be together again?" Malia begs.

"I can continue the story again tomorrow if you want Princess. But Momma wants to go home, and I need to help her make dinner." I answer truthfully. Malia ducks her head in disappointment, but bids me a good night anyway.

The next day, I learn that Malia has come down with something, and the royal Eniripsa says its contagious. "Do you still want to stay with princess Amalia today Rosalee?" Mom asks, and I think on it. On the one hand, this would leave Eva and Malia alone, which would make them friends finally, but I also kinda want to spend time with them. In the end I decide to go in Anyway, and find them hugging at Malia's bed. "Did the two of you make up?" I ask a few moments later. They separate and spin to look at the new arrival and I notice that Eva has changed her pink shirt for her more normal black. "Rosey, you shouldn't be here either, you could get sick." Malia says worriedly.

"Ah, who cares about that. Besides, I thought you wanted to hear the rest of my story?" At the mention of yesterday's story both of them sit, Malia on her bed, and Eva on the floor as I began my tale. Remaking the story of Alfheim was a bit more difficult, but saying that Kirito's friend knew of a ship that would take him to a new land after rumors of a girl exactly like Asuna seemed to work. And both of them started cheering when Kirito went back to Asuna's room after defeating Sugou (a more pg friendly version anyway) and gave her a kiss earned me some applause before we were served lunch.

"Where did you come up with that story Rosey?" Malia asks after lunch.

"I don't know, it was just sitting in my head. Why?" I answer.

"Because I want to hear more stories, really good ones. Do you have any more "sitting in your head"?

"I think I can scrounge up a few more."

That night. Malia, Eva and I stay up late talking, with them trying to coax another story out of me, but darn it, it takes time to find a story that I can tell without heavy editing, and longer still to tell, so I manage to deflect long enough for us all to be tired. Mom was told I have to stay in this room, what with Malia being contagious, there was no way I hadn't caught what she has by now. So bed rolls are brought in for Eva and I to sleep on. As my eyes droop, curled up in a fluffy warm cocoon, I notice that the other two are already slightly snoring.

Malia, Eva and I lay quietly in our respective beds, my doll sitting next to Malia's on the foot of he bed. I turn away from the sight as the flow of life drags me out the window and into the open air. Passing the edge of town I find a small camp, people in metal suits sitting round a fire, passing around a flagon. Their words taken away by the veil of reality between us, I only get a clue of what their talking about when one points the way I had come. All at once the camp shatters into motion, people running to and fro and saddling up Dragoturkeys. I follow as the group surges through the town, silent despite the metal adorning their bodies. They steal into the Palace, tying down the guards in their path before splitting into groups, entering three specific rooms. The one housing the King and Queen, the Prince's, and Malia's. Fear forms in the pit of my stomach, and I fly passed them and into the room with the three sleeping female children, the door bursts open just as I crash into my body, trying for all I'm worth to take control again, but my body acts like a brick wall, refusing me reentry. Spinning, I see two men drawing close. I turn to my doll, reaching out to it in the hopes it will respond, to my terror it remains limp, leaned slightly against Malia's doll. I turn again to see the men stepping over my sleeping form, moving to Malia's bed side, a flash of reflected moonlight catches my eye as he withdraws his hand from his side. "Malia!" I scream silently to all in the room. The knife comes down in an arc, directed just below the smiling face of my friend…

A horrible stench catches my attention as I fling out of the confines of my bedroll, thorny brambles shooting from beside me to snare the intruders, but only crashing into the walls as the faint purple miasma fades from before my eyes. The sound jolts Eva from her sleeping bag as well, her keen eyes searching the dark for a source. What…" She begins before the stench that had woken me likely assails her nose, causing her to turn green and double over, gagging. I turn my gaze away to the door, expecting to see it cracked open like before, but finding it whole and secure. "What's wrong Rosey?" Malia asks groggily, not yet noticing the spikey limb stretched a few feet above her head. She does a moment later and lets out a squeak. "Why are there Brambles in my room?" I sneak up the door, and open it slowly peeking out to find the guards still on patrol. A breath I didn't know I was holding spills out of me, carrying more of that putrid purple gas. I recoil in disgust, shutting the door and waving my hand in front of my face. "And why are breathing out Poison wind?" She continues, getting up from her bed and coaxing the brambles back, pushing them back under the ground and repairing the hole in the living floor. I slump against the door, trying not to breath out more gas as my heart rate slows back down. "Rosey?" Malia says, stooping down in front of me and trying to catch my eye. I look up and throw my arms around her, surprising her with an, admittedly tearful, hug.

"You're okay." I hear myself say, just letting the words pop out.

"Of course I am, other than being sick, why wouldn't I be?' She asks, pulling her head away to look at me askance.

"I thought… I thought someone had broken into the palace, I could see the knife." I explain, getting a strange look from both other girls. "But you were asleep… Oh were you having a float dream?" Malia says.

"I thought I was, but if it didn't happen it must have just been a bad dream." I say, letting go of Malia and slumping further against the door. "Amalia, what's she talking about, and what do you mean by "Floaty dream?" Eva says, confusing all over her face.

"Oh, you don't know how I met her?" Malia asks, getting a shaken head from the blonde Cra. "When we were three we met at the Tree of Life, but we were both dreaming at the time, and we played until we woke up. Both of us were having strange dreams where we could see the real world but, couldn't touch it. She keeps having them to avoid nightmares, I've only had a couple after that." The Cra just looks at me, her head tilted to the left slightly.

"Okay then…I have hear of Sadida getting strange dreams before... but what did you mean by knife?" Eva asks. Malia seems to remember my mentioning a knife as well and turns to look at me.

"I thought someone was going to kill Malia in her sleep… but like I said it was just a bad dream." I say. At least there was no fire. "Aww, your bad dreams are about me getting hurt." Malia gushes, wrapping me in a tight hug.

"Well, now that that's over, we should get back to sleep." Eva says, already moving back to her bed roll.

"Malia, how did you move my brambles so easily, and what did you say about poison wind?" I saw quietly.

"Oh, the brambles was easy, my tutors could have moved them without even touching them, and the Poison Wind is what my tutors call it when a Sadida breathes toxic pollen, yours was kind of weak by the way, Eva didn't even throw up, and it was her first time experiencing it." She rattles off like its nothing.

"Wait, your tutors, you have people teaching you combat magic?"

"Of course, I'm a princess, if my ladies in waiting can't protect me, I could be kidnapped or worse, so being able to protect myself was something Father thought I should be learning at a young age. I started 2 years ago. Your Brambles could use some work, but your better at the Poison Wind then I am, so at least there's that."

"You've been getting help learning this? I've been having to practice at home when no one is around." I huff.

"Oh, I thought Lissia or Urden would be teaching you by now. You should ask them about it." Malia says as she climbs into her bed, her doll pulling the covers up around her shoulders before flopping down at her side.

We stayed together for a week and a half with whatever kind of pox we had come down with. And when I got home I ask Mom to help me with my techniques.

"Why do you want to know sweetie?" She asks coolly.

"I had a nightmare where the princess got hurt and I couldn't do anything about it." I begin. "But when I woke up I was breathing out smelly purple gas, and Brambles were growing out of the ground and attacked the Princess's room." I explain, rushing the last part to hopefully gloss over my sudden endangering of royalty.

"So you want to learn to help protect the Princess?" She asks. I nod sharply. "Good, your father and I have been waiting for you to say that. You're not as sneaky in your practice as you think, I can feel when nature swirls around you in the evenings. But I'm impressed you were able to use Poison Wind at all, it's not a simple spell, not that many Sadida even bother learning it for that reason. Now, let's go find somewhere to see what you can do.

Yay, fourth chapter, and if I remember correctly, it's my longest yet. Sorry this took so long to come out, but at least Im back to it, though it may feel a bit rushed to some of you, I kinda want to get to Yugo's adventure, and squishing a few years into one chapter helps with that. Next time we'll be ending with Amalia's Prophetic vision and fleeing the palace for Emelka. You know the drill, Rate Review, what ever you can do. It's what gives me strength, and makes my day as I'm writing the next chapter.

* (Not an endorsement, just what I'm having run through the character's head).