The Inventor and the Phoenix

Days in the Sun

A/n: sorry this took so long to update. Just getting ready to getting back to school again.

Enjoy this short chapter

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"Mama!"

"You killed her, you little brat!" Her aunt. Her cruel, greedy Aunt.

"Leave her alone!" Annie...sister...

"Get out! Get out of my castle and never come anywhere near my girls again!" Papa?

"You'll regret this! Someday, I will make sure you won't survive!"

"Are you alright, little Phoenix?"

"Why is she so cruel, Papa? Why?"

"...I...I don't know, dear. Sometimes, the world can be cruel, selfish, and horrible...and sometimes...there's nothing you can do to change it..."

"P-Papa?" The Phoenix reached her hand, only for another to gently hold it.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's alright," the soothing voice belonging to Rodney called out to her. She slowly opened her eyes to find those breathtaking sapphires belonging to the blue-haired man, who sat beside her on the bed. The Rusties, Aunt Fanny, Nabel, and the others waited beside the bed as well.

"What happened?" The Princess asked hoarsely.

"You fainted the other night," Sam explained as she placed the back of her hand against her forehead. "You got a really bad fever. Speaking of which, it's going down. It seems to be a good thing."

Lily, Caleb, and a few other kids, some of them in different animal forms than the first two, peeked around the door and watched the young man and Princess converse.

"We'll just leave you two to it," Aunt Fanny stated to Rodney before she left with Nabel and the others.

"Why are you doing this?" The Princess asked Rodney once they left.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused.

"I mean, I've been nothing but harsh and scary to you," the Princess replied. "I blew up at you, drove you off..."

"Well, it is true," Rodney added. "But you did save my life, and...I'm still grateful for that." Wonderbot, who hovered beside him for the entirety of the chat, nodded in agreement.

The Princess smiled at him gently in reply.

"You should get some rest. The fever's still lingering in you," Rodney instructed.

"Thanks...and it's Aaliyah," the Princess answered.

Rodney beamed tenderly at her. Lily, Caleb, and the few children giggled quietly from outside the room. When Rodney stepped outside the room, he failed to notice the growing smirks of Cody, Josh, Matt, and the male Rusties members until a few seconds later.

"What?"

"...nothing," Josh shrugged.

"She seems to be warming up to you," Sam spoke to the blue-haired man.

"Apparently so," Rodney agreed. "But...how did she end up like this with you guys?"

Nabel's smile fell and changed to a sorrowful frown, as well as the Rusties, Gang, and Aunt Fanny. The children didn't know how to answer the question. Rodney understood. "Oh, sorry. I shouldn't have..."

"No, it's quite fine. I believe you deserve to know," Nabel began. "Our aunt grew corrupt and cruel since Aaliyah and I were kids. She would always get out of her way to get what she wanted...including the crown. But our father kicked her out the night our mother died and she blamed Aaliyah for that. We thought our aunt wouldn't come back, but we were wrong."

"She was already corrupt to the point her mind had been taken over by madness to gain control of the entire castle," Piper piped in. "When she came back, Aaliyah was all ready to fight back against her. She got all the fighting skills she needed to battle, but she got other ideas."

"The next thing she did...she cursed us like this..." Cody added. Rodney grew remorseful. "Alli blamed herself for that, even when her aunt died using the last bit of her life and powers to curse us. But the Enchantress came along one night and saw the devastation and kindness in her. She helped find a way to bend the curse a bit. If she finds someone to love her as she is, despite her appearance, the spell will be broken..."

"...and you're human again?" Rodney finished, receiving nods from Caleb, Lily, and the children.

"That's why we need you here," Nabel continued. "You're our only hope left. And we were running out of time..."

Rodney stared at the group before glancing through the crack of the door. The Princess--Aaliyah--rested underneath the bed sheets peacefully, a bandage wrapped around her injured arm. He sighed through his nose as he understood.

"Let's let her get some rest. It's been a long day for her," Aunt Fanny stated. As the others left, Rodney took a moment to gaze at the young woman on the bed before he followed behind them, with Wonderbot following suit.

Unbeknownst to them, Aaliyah heard everything. Her eyes appeared gentle and patient, yet a bit remorseful, a soft sigh leaving through her lips. They closed as she let slumber take over her.

...her mother laid on the bed, her skin cold and pale and her eyes closed forever. A young Nabel and Aaliyah stood near the bed, staring down at their beloved mother, who had lost her life to an inevitable illness. "Days in the sun, where my life has barely begun. Not until my whole life is done. Will I ever leave you?" Aaliyah sang solemnly before her and Nabel's father led them away from the bed tenderly.

That same night, the Castle was filled with regrets and memories of their lives before they were condemned to the curse.

"Will I tremble again to my dear one's gorgeous refrain?" Cody sang, playing a solemn tune on his guitar.

"Will you now forever remain out of reach of my arms?" Josh and Sam twirled around on the floor in the ballroom, wishing they would do it all again in their true human forms.

"Oh, those days in the sun. What I'd give to relive just one. Undo what's done and bring back the light..." Brittany hummed as she tucked Lily in her bed, the rest of the children sleeping away in their own beds. She would give anything in the world to see the kids she saw as her siblings grow up.

"Oh, I could sing of the pain these dark days bring the spell we're under," Ginger harmonized with a heartbroken tone. "Still it's the wonder of us I sing of tonight..."

"How in the midst of all this sorrow can so much hope and love endure?" Rodney circled around his room. "I was innocent and certain. Now I'm wiser but unsure..."

"I can't go back into my childhood, one that my father made secure," As Ginger sang in the background, Rodney continued. "I can feel a change in me. I'm stronger now, but still not free..."

As the days passed, Rodney did everything he knew to keep the wound from getting infected and helped with getting the fever down. Though his main focus was on healing Aaliyah, his eyes would occasionally turn to the rose. Day by day, one petal fell, leaving the rest to patiently wait until they were ready to join their friend.

"Days in the sun will return, we must believe as lovers do," the staff of the Castle sang. "That days in the sun will come shining through..."