Taking Fantasia : A Disney Fanfiction

Chapter 51: For the First Time in Forever

Chapter 51: For the First Time in Forever

"Lemon chiffon, mulberry, cerulean, or blue-violet?"

Headmaster Mickey looked up. His came nose to nose with four color swatches.

"Well?" Minnie asked, fanning the swatches. "Which one do you like? For the ball?"

Mickey pushed back the attendance slip he'd been reading. "The yellow one." he said.

"You mean the lemon chiffon?"

"Yup."

"Really? Minnie took a second look. "Well Goofy liked the mulberry and Donald liked the cerulean..." Happily Minnie held up a swatch. "So then it has to be the blue-violet! Goody!"

Headmaster Mickey smiled. "No red polka dot?"

Minnie giggled. Skipping around his desk, she sat on the arm of Mickey's chair. "No Silly! Red polka dot doesn't go with the theme!"

"I'll regret this..." Mickey said, closing his book. "But what's the theme?"

"Once Upon a Dream..." Minnie cooed. Dreamily she stared off into the distance, listening to invisible string orchestras and imagining orchid scented nights. "Oh Mickey this is going to be splendid! Just splendid! Music! Chocolate! Flowers! Laughing! Smiling! Dancing!"

Mickey smiled. Feebly, he fingered the attendance slip. "Sounds like you are more excited than the students."

"Well." Minnie sat up. "Why aren't you? Oh Mickey don't you remember? You must remember! This castle use to be full of balls! Remember?"

"Those were the good old days." said the headmaster halfheartedly.

"And for the first time in forever!" Minnie continued, hopping from Mickey's chair and spinning around the classroom. "There will be laughter, music, and fun in this worn out, empty castle! For the first time in forever..."

Minnie smiled at Mickey. Hope sparkled in her eyes. "...we won't be so alone. So lost in the past. So lost in the future. Right? Mickey?"

Minnie dropped her arms. Concerned, she approached the headmaster as he slid the attendance slip back and forth across his desk.

"Mickey? Mickey, what's wrong?"

Mickey looked up. The attendance slip crinkled under his hands. "I don't think today went so well."

"What?" Minnie rounded the desk. Frantically, she flocked Mickey like a mother hen. "Mickey Mouse, what do you mean? Did something go wrong? With your students?"

"Not just my students." the headmaster ran a hand between his ears. "All of them. In every class. Dr. Doppler tried to teach students about Fantasia's magical history – "

Minnie cringed. "Uh oh."

"—and the students interpreted the lesson that all magic is evil! Then they told that to Merlin – "

Minnie's hands flew to her cheeks. "Uh oh!"

"—and Merlin scared the living daylights out of them! Made them all kiss toads for the lesson on True Love's Kiss!"

Minnie hid a smile. "Is that...part of the lesson?"

"No. That's Merlin and Archimedes getting even!" Headmaster Mickey grumbled. He fidgeted angrily with the attendance slip. " You know how they are!"

Minnie smiled. She tried to be soothing. "Well, what about the specialized classes?"

Mickey tossed his hands in the air. "Dr. Sweet had all his kids vaccinate each other with silver extract to protect against demons, Coach Phil locked the Warriors in the furnace, turned up the heat and told them to get out, and Donald – get this – Donald forced his spies to scout out winning codes for online contests!"

Minnie blinked. "Really? Any luck?"

Mickey buried his head in his hands. "We just won 500 boxes of mac-n-cheese, a $250 gift certificate to Ramirez's Hardware Store, a free ride on Dumbo the Elephant, a DVD box set of the Star Wars Trilogy, free pizza coupons from Tony's, and a glorious Hawaiian getaway for two."

Minnie was impressed. "They got the information to win all that in one class period?"

"That's not the point Minnie! Donald wants to take a class field trip to the racing track, next!"

Sympathetically, Minnie patted Mickey's back. "Well. What are the students doing now?"

"Basic training." Mickey's voice was muffled through his desk. "Boot camp. For the rest of the afternoon. I'm sure Captain Lee Shang won't stop until he has to use the defibrillator."

"Awww." Minnie smiled. "Poor Mickey."

"Yup." Mickey said miserably into his arms. "Poor me."

"Well, what about your class?" Minnie asked, tapping the attendance slip. "With the Second Stars? How did that go?"

"Terrible!" Mickey rolled up from his desk. Dolefully, he handed her the attendance slip. "There are thirty desks in this classroom and Facilier sat in the very back. Didn't listen to a word I said– just played solitaire. Megara sulked, Simba was distracted, and Eilonwy kept whispering about some gizmo she saw during the War Games. Oh she's too afraid to tell me, but it is clearly on her mind."

Minnie ran a finger down the list. She looked up. "Wendy Darling?"

"Didn't show." Mickey said, again rubbing a hand between his ears. "And that was most disappointing of all."

Puffing his cheeks, the headmaster looked to the ceiling. "Minnie, how can we teach students that don't wanna learn?"

Minnie smiled. "Mickey." she said, looping her arm under his. "Mickey. They're teenagers. Remember when we were their age?" Sweetly, Minnie swung their arms.

Mickey's tail knotted into a curly-Q. Cherry cheeked, he held Minnie's hand. "Not much has changed, huh?"

Minnie giggled. "I suppose not, Mickey Mouse!"

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Excuse me? Headmaster?"

Mickey and Minnie turned. Startled, they released hands.

"Yes?" Headmaster Mickey lowered his voice as Minnie pretended to shuffle her color swatches. "Yes? Who is it? Oh. Wendy."

Timidly, Wendy hovered in the doorway. She held a wicker sewing basket in her hands.

"Wendy." Headmaster Mickey said again. He noticed the sewing basket. "Wendy. You're...late."

"I'm sorry." Wendy apologized, tone bleeding with guilt. "I didn't mean to miss class. Truly I didn't. But...I...I..." Flustered, she held up the sewing basket. "I have something. Please, I...I'm not sure what to do."

Headmaster Mickey looked. His tail twitched as the sewing basket jumped. Slowly, Mickey noticed that Wendy was wearing her silver thimble.

"Yes?" Headmaster Mickey beckoned Wendy forward. "What is it?"

Wendy clutched the sewing basket. "Peter's shadow."

Headmaster Mickey smiled. His face beamed brighter than the sun. "Oh boy!"

Infected by his enthusiasm, Wendy smiled. Gently, she placed down the sewing basket. "Can you teach me how to fix it?"

Headmaster Mickey and Mistress Minnie squeaked as the basket rustled. Excitedly, Mickey rubbed together his hands. "Well, let's see what we can cook up! Wendy, is your thimble ready?"

Wendy smiled. Nodding, she held up her finger.

"Well then, let's see what you can do! I don't think Captain Lee Shang will mind if you're a little late to basic training. Minnie do you?"

Happily, Minnie shook her head. "After all...for the first time in forever...we have a shadow!"

Biting her fingers, Minnie squealed as Wendy unlatched the basket and slid her hand inside. "And a Shadow Worker!"