A Smile

This is a short story by Sunset. 
== A Smile ==
Queen Snowfall was worried. She had been worried ever since her mother had passed away from the terrifying IceWing flu that passed through the kingdom, but now life was becoming even more difficult. She had to deal with the utter embarrassment of her cousin, Winter, having left the kingdom in order to elope with a NightWing. Or so she had been told. Covering up the scandalous story had proven difficult, but Snowfall had managed in preventing the IceWing media from relating the story (which included dozens of bribes and paying them significantly in resources that the young queen hadn't wanted to give away). So as she collapsed into her room, Snowfall knew she needed a break. She just didn't have time for one.
As the door of her room slowly creaked open, Snowfall was lying on the floor, her wings spread out on the ground like more of the primitive animals she had spotted in the rainforest. Noticing that someone else was in her room, Snow jumped up, only to find Icicle standing before her. Icicle smiled, an expression that, surprisingly, seemed warmer and more sincere than her usual calculating self would be capable of. "What?" the queen snapped. "Must you interrupt me at this hour?"
Icicle's lips twitched, but she said nothing other than, "Forgive me, my queen. There's just -" - she scowled - "someone waiting for you downstairs." Snowfall's eyebrows raised inquisitively. It was always her way of saying, tell me more. Icicle hurriedly spoke again. "Someone that ... well, I think its best for you to see him yourself, you know? I assure you he's not here to hurt you."
Snowfall had absolutely no idea who the dragon might be, but she frowned at Icicle, pushing her back. "Alright, I'll go see this dragon. Who knows what surprises he might bring?" Icicle nervously muttered 'who knows' ominously back, following her down the stairs towards where the dragon was waiting. When the queen approached the dragon in the doorway, she nearly fainted from shock. 
The cruel IceWing that lived the disgusting stories that were true. The cruel IceWing she needed to call family, as much as it tasted like rotten fish in her mouth whenever she uttered it. The IceWing that sympathized with scavengers, that couldn't live up to expectations, that failed in the Diamond Trial. The IceWing was the only breath of fresh air in stuffy royalty. The joke of the party, but also the one that meant the most. Winter stood in front of her, nervously tapping his talons on the ground in that way he had.
Snowfall expected disgust to shoot through her, she expected to feel like she wanted to scream so loud at the dragon that threatened to ruin IceWing tradition. But instead, the words that fell from her lips were, "Are you okay? How did it work out?", and then she cursed herself for speaking.
"How did what work out?" Winter whispered in return, though it was clear he knew what she was talking about. Snowfall's eyes filled with tears as he shook his head. But as he opened his wings, and Snow wrapped her arms around him, he whispered something that startled her. "I'm sorry for how I treated you. Could you just give me a smile?" 
And Snow forced herself to pull up the corners of her mouth. "No, Winter," she gulped through her tears. "I'm sorry."
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Completed)
Category:Fanfictions (Canon)