THE TRIO MET UP WITH AURORA'S GODMOTHERS FIVE MINUTES LATER, STEPPING INTO A PORTAL THAT BROUGHT THEM BACK TO HER HOME. Phillip's face, arms, and legs were bleeding much more profusely than they had expected, the boy shouting that he just got scratched, it didn't make sense that this was happening, his shirt beginning to become soaked through.

"You're going to be okay," Gazelle soothed, stroking his cheek as he was laid across a covered table, the others removing his clothes and setting them into a laundry basket.

Phillip was filled with a warmth that didn't come from any spell or magic, leaning into the motherly touch before being pushed back down onto the table with a light hand, Marisol whispering that he needed to stay still.

"Aurora, you and Peter stay in the kitchen," Rosalee said, glancing over to her goddaughter who was inching close, her friend just behind her.

"But—" they both argued, but one stern look from all three women was enough to get them to retreat, slinking back into the kitchen.

Phillip struggled to calm his breathing, his entire body lit on fire, the cuts stinging like someone had drenched him in alcohol, his tears stinging as they trailed down his cheeks, falling into the cuts, causing him to jerk, hands balling into fists.

"Breathe, Phillip, it's gonna be okay," Rosalee whispered, smoothing down his hair, "Just breathe, it'll be over soon."

Phillip bit his lip and nodded minutely, keeping his eyes screwed shut as he forced himself to steady his breathing, in through his nose and out through his mouth, following Gazelle who was breathing along with him. He allowed himself to relax, startling when he felt a warmth fill him, surrounding him in a cocoon, the stinging subsiding.

He allowed himself to fall into the warmth, unsure of whether he was asleep or awake, filled with a bliss he had never experienced, slipping further and further into the feeling until he wasn't even sure if he was asleep or awake.

"Phillip."

Phillip startled awake, sitting up quickly, only for three pairs of hands to catch him, lowering him back down onto the table, shushing him softly, reminding him to breathe. He let his eyes slip closed again, focusing on his breathing, his heart racing madly in fear.

"Phillip, please, we lost two hours waiting for you."

He jumped off the table immediately, ignoring the shouts and commands for him to sit back down, eyes opening and unfocused, stumbling forward and catching onto the first solid form he could; which just so happened to be Aurora.

"Hey, it's okay," she breathed, shrinking under her godmother's groans at her for shocking him, "It's okay, don't worry about it—"

"We gotta get going," he croaked, stumbling towards what he thought was the door, only to fall to the ground in a heap, groaning, "Were you guys just waiting?"

"It wasn't like we were gonna leave without you," Peter said, walking over and pulling him up by his arms, dragging him back to the sitting room, dumping him onto the couch, "Breathe for a second, eat a sandwich."

"Briar," he said, rubbing his eyes and looking on to see the girl place a plate on his stomach, "Are you okay?"

She nodded, sitting on the ground by his head, resting her arm and chin on the edge he wasn't touching. "I'm okay, no worries, and we still have time. You got really hurt, Phillip. There was a lot of blood."

"I don't get that, I mean, sure they got me, but it wasn't like I was stabbed," he sighed, looking over at his arm where there were, unfortunately, scars from where he had been scratched, though they were small, not enough to have his shirt soaked through.

Speaking of shirts, his clothes had been changed, his blue jacket and grey shirt replaced with a red shirt that was a little too big for him, but comfortable nonetheless, and his jeans replaced with brown pants that were also surprisingly comfortable; he chalked it up to the godmother's mutations, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to enjoy it.

He looked over at Aurora again who was just looking at him. He gave her a small smile, reaching over to the sandwich she had brought, sitting up slightly to take a bite, glancing between her and Peter, who was perched on the opposite arm rest.

"I made the sandwich," Peter mumbled, and Phillip gave him a smile in silent thanks, trying to eat quickly without choking.

"Did you read the next set?" Phillip asked, and the two others shared a look. "What is it?"

"We couldn't look at it," Aurora explained, motioning to Peter who pulled the scroll out of his backpack, handing it to her, "I think it recognizes when one of us isn't around. Which means it probably knows us to an extent."

"That, or the birds reported back to her," Peter added, and it was clear the two had been theorizing for some time, "Whatever it is, we couldn't work without you."

Phillip groaned, dropping his head back, shaking his head. "Shit. Briar, I'm sorry," he said, turning to look at the girl who gave him a reassuring smile, reaching out to squeeze his arm.

"It's okay," she said softly, "I'm just glad you're alright. You really scared me."

Phillip sighed heavily, reaching out to tap her chin, giving her a small smile before finishing off his sandwich and dusting off the crumbs, picking up the scroll and opening it, the other two immediately moving to see over his shoulders, Peter now resting on the top of the couch and Aurora leaned against Phillip's arm.

REFLECTION OF A PRINCESS

"I am so done with this woman," Phillip scoffed, handing the scroll over to Aurora as he moved to stand, stretching and popping his back.

"How do you capture a reflection?" Peter hummed, pulling out his phone and starting to Google.

"Where do we find a princess?" Aurora countered, tapping his arm for him to research if any princesses had come to New York.

"I think we need to drive around again," Phillip mumbled, tracing one of the longer scars he had that was on the back of his arm, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Drive around and hope we find a princess?" Peter asked, already moving from his perch to grab his backpack, "That'll be fun."

"It worked last time," he pointed out, holding out a hand for Aurora who took it, pulling herself up without much help from him, "And it's getting darker, so we should probably hurry."

"Kids," Rosalee called out, holding two cell phones in her hands, "This is in case of emergencies. It was a great risk, opening that portal to bring you from Westchester to here, so use this sparingly. But if you need a quick escape, press any button and we'll open one."

"I don't get one?" Aurora asked as the boys each pocketed the flip phones.

"Honey, you're a projection," Marisol pointed out, carrying a tray in her hands, "Take some sweets for the road."

Peter grinned and happily took a few of the cheese rolls offered to him, biting into one and groaning at how warm they still were, thanking her around the food. Aurora grumbled about how she couldn't eat in her current form, glancing over to Phillip who wasn't even looking at the tray.

"You can have some," she said, catching his eye, "Or is your stomach upset from what happened?"

He swallowed thickly, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I just—I can't have sweets."

"Oh, is it for medical reasons or are you just not allowed...?" Marisol asked, moving to set the tray back in the kitchen, all the others looking at Phillip with genuine curiosity.

The boy laughed bitterly, shaking his head as he turned to the surprised faces. "No, I just...I physically can't handle those. I throw up real easily with sweet stuff. Sorry."

"No, it's alright," Gazelle said, reappearing and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, "We understand, no worries. We have some chips, you can have those, right?" He nodded, leaning back into her touch and trying not to whimper as she stepped aside, taking her hand away.

"So there aren't any princesses in New York," Peter said, pocketing his phone, "But I'm sure there's gotta be some loophole, right?"

"With Maleficent?" Marisol asked, eyes dark as she shared a look with the other three women, "There always is."

º º º

"Why did we decide to go walking around SoHo in search of a princess?" Peter asked, letting Aurora hold his hand as she swung her arms idly, still trying to convince Phillip to let her do the same with his.

"We all had the feeling again and we all secretly want to die," Phillip deadpanned, relenting and letting Aurora slip her hand into his own, swinging both her arms as they walked, giggling to herself.

Aurora paused at that, looking up at him and he immediately backtracked, stammering, "I mean, not like—shit, wait, that's not what I—"

"It's okay," she said softly, and Phillip sighed, dropping his gaze to the ground.

The three continued to walk for some time, the boys starting to shiver as the sky began to darken, the February winter merciless as the cold surrounded them like a blanket, Aurora feeling only half, as she was a projection.

The three passed by a few of the window displays, Peter commenting about the dresses and how Aurora had been asking him for help on ones that her godmothers could make, Phillip simply listening in on their conversation.

He let his eyes wander as the two continued to talk, stopping in his tracks when he caught sight of a sign in the window display of a large clothing store, golden letters hard to miss as they jumped out at him.

"Guys," he breathed, nudging them to look at the display.

In the display was a light blue dress with a triangular white collar and long sleeves, the bodice much darker than the rest of the dress, the sleeves matching a detail around the hip area while the skirt remained an entirely separate color. Above were the words: "A dress fit for a princess, limited stock."

"Kinda on the nose, don't you think?" Phillip asked, though none of them could deny the pull they felt towards the dress, the same that they felt at the pumpkin patch.

"Yeah, but what about the reflection bit?" Aurora asked, tearing her gaze away to look up at him.

Peter spoke up them, making a noise in the back of his throat as he clapped, eyes wide in excitement. "Wait. Wait, you could take a picture of a reflection, right, so we can just take a picture of you in the dress looking at a mirror."

"How do we toss it in the pot?" Phillip asked, still adamant about never calling it a cauldron unless he absolutely had to.

"I got a Polaroid camera back home," he said, already backing away from them towards the nearest alley he could find, "I can make it to Queens and back in half the time it takes on foot, I'll just swing over no problem. You guys find the dress and text me where you are."

With that, he was gone, scurrying off before either could call after him. Sighing, the two glanced at each other before making their way into the store without another word.

"These stores always feel so cool when it gets dark," Aurora gushed as they walked around in search of a salesperson to talk to, "I think it's the lights."

"I can see that," Phillip said, only half paying attention as he searched for a salesperson, "Wait, over here."

The two scurried over to a woman who was rearranging the hangars on a rack, hands swift and light, clearly practiced. Aurora watched her for a moment before nudging Phillip who cleared his throat, moving to let her speak.

"Hi," she chirped, smiling brightly, "We were wondering about the dress in the window display? The blue one?"

"Oh," the woman said, nodding knowingly, motioning for them to follow her, "Yeah, we're gonna have to check our stock, it's very limited. It was a really sweet concept, the dress was made in all sizes and forms, but there were only three made for each that were distributed among our branches, so when we said limited, we meant it. What size are you?"

"It depends," Aurora tittered, and the woman laughed knowingly, "I'm usually a small to medium, though."

The woman hummed for a moment, taking in her size and height, then said, "You're probably a medium...Wait here a minute, I'll be right back."

Phillip and Aurora waited by the EMPLOYEE ONLY door, Aurora humming and looking around while Phillip ran a hand over one of his scars absentmindedly, moving closer to her when he saw people glancing over at them.

"Are you okay?" she asked, placing a hand on his arm, "You seem really nervous."

"I just don't trust anyone anymore," he whispered, glancing around, "If she was able to get the birds to attack us, who's to say she couldn't get a human to?"

Aurora shifted at that, taking in his words, but eventually squeezed his arm, forcing him to look at her. "I wasn't the one who got attacked by a bunch of crows, but I do think that just because this happened doesn't mean everyone else is out to get us. But that's just me. I don't blame you, honestly."

She reached out to run a finger over the long scar on his arm and while he shivered, he didn't pull away, letting her hold onto his arm as she traced the rest of his scars, his hand coming to rest on her waist, keeping him balanced.

"Okay," the saleswoman said, stepping back out, "So this is a funny surprise. We don't have any of the dresses in stock."

"Time to die!" Phillip cried, Aurora shushing him loudly.

"But," the woman said, staring at the boy with wide eyes, "Luckily for you, the window display is a size medium. So let's go get it."

"Oh thank God," Phillip groaned, dropping his face into the crook of his neck, "Briar, when we get out of this you owe me this is toying with my emotions too much."

Aurora giggled, casting an apologetic look to the saleswoman as they followed her. "It's a really long story, but thank you for helping us, this actually was really important."

"Well, I hope you two are alright, whatever it is that's going on," she said, still frowning over at Phillip, "Can I ask what happened to your face, you've got some nasty scars right there."

"I got attacked by a bunch of birds," he explained, sighing as he rubbed his eyes, "It was pretty bad, I don't know what I did, but they went at me."

"That's awful!" she cried, stopping in front of the display to climb in and unhook the dress from the mannequin, "I'm glad you're alright." She handed the dress over to Aurora, smiling. "The dressing rooms are on the other side of the store just across from we are. If you need any more help, you can ask me or any of my associates."

"Thank you," Aurora chirped, grabbing Phillip's hand and tugging him towards the dressing rooms.

"I'll text Peter," Phillip said, the two weaving in and out of racks as they made their way to the dressing rooms, Phillip slowing when he realized where they were headed. "You sure you want me in there with you?"

She frowned up at him, tilting her head. "Of course I do, why wouldn't I?"

He motioned towards her, then at the dress. "I just...you know I wasn't sure if you would be comfortable with me being there while you're changing...but like I wouldn't look at you if you weren't cool with it anyways, but I just wanted to, you know, make sure."

She splayed out her palms. "Well, there's your problem solved, I assumed you wouldn't look, and you just said you wouldn't, so let's go."

Phillip followed Aurora to the dressing rooms, thinking to himself. She was always so trusting of other people, and he could only hope that it remained to be a good thing.

º º º

Waiting for Peter was a bit of a challenge.

Phillip sighed as he stretched out across one of the seats in the large dressing room, Aurora continuing to scrutinize her appearance in the dress. He glanced over to her every so often, giving her a smile whenever she gave him a questioning look, motioning to the dress.

"You look good," he said, catching her frown at her reflection, crossing her arms, "Really."

"Thanks," she mumbled, smoothing down the fabric, "Are you okay?"

Phillip paused, not realizing he had turned back to the mirror by him, running his fingers over the scars on his cheeks, frowning at the harsh breaks in his otherwise blemish-free skin. Of course, he had the odd beauty mark or two along his neck, but those were hardly noticeable. Every time he looked at the scars, he shuddered, the phantom sting of the scratches spreading across his arms.

"Yeah," he sighed, ripping his gaze away from his reflection, "Are you okay?"

She nodded, moving to stand in front of him, holding out her arms. "Hug."

He smiled, standing and wrapping his arms around her, sighing as he dropped his head onto her shoulder, forcing himself to breathe, reveling in the way she ran her hands over his back, hugging him as tightly as he hugged her.

He couldn't even remember the last time he had been hugged.

"Hey, guys? It's Peter."

The two pulled away instantly, Phillip moving back to sit down while Aurora opened the door to let Peter in, the boy immediately commenting on the dress, the camera in his hands, his hair messed up, most likely from his mask.

"Okay, let's do it," he said, motioning for Aurora to stand in front of the mirror, "Briar just stay still and I'll figure out how to get your reflection. Face or no face?"

"Face," Phillip chimed in, "Because it's her whole reflection, right? You know the song."

"I love that song," Aurora gasped, grinning over to Phillip who winked, motioning for her to look back at the mirror, Peter pressing the shutter just in time to get her reflection smiling back at her.

After a few minutes, the picture had developed, Peter nodding at it. "Yeah, it's pretty good. Okay, let's get going."

The two boys looked away as Aurora changed, careful of the expensive dress, folding it up carefully, running her hands over the fabric. It was a really nice dress, but she didn't feel quite right in it.

The trio exited the dressing room with only a few confused looks from the staff, heading towards the front to return it back onto the mannequin. As they headed back, she paused in front of a rack, running her hands over a dress.

It was similar to the one she had seen in her reflection in the pond, her eyes widening in realization. She looked over it for a few moments, wishing she had time to try it on, as she would have looked much nicer in it than the one she held.

"Briar," Peter called, the boys realizing she had stopped following.

"Sorry," she called, tearing her gaze away and scurrying after them, "Who should we return this to?"

"Here," Phillip said quickly, taking the dress, "You two just head outside, I'll meet you in sec."

While confused, the two agreed, heading out while Phillip bundled the dress in his arms, looking back to the rack that Aurora had just been, reaching into his pocket to make sure his wallet was still inside.

º º º

"What took you so long?" Peter demanded, crossing his arms as Phillip finally exited the store, a white bag in hand.

He placed the bag in Aurora's hands, shrugging off the questions. "The line was long. Valentine's Day dress shopping, I guess."

Aurora glanced into the bag as she followed the two boys, gasping softly. Inside were two dresses, the blue one and the brown one. She looked up to Phillip who only glanced over his shoulder and winked.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 06.18.18 )

So I was googling and saw that there was both a blue dress and a pink dress, so I figured that I'd use the blue one, which came first, then have the pink one be used in a completely different way and I'm really excited for it now.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!