Rating: So far a G
Pairing: Fred & Connor
Disclaimer: Belongs to Joss Whedon & Co.
Notes: In response to Challenge #10
Basically a rewrite of the Cinderella tale, with Fred as
Cinderella, and Connor as
Prince Charming. Other characters for BTVS & ATS will
show up too.
Feedback: Please..

Once upon a time, there was a handsome man, Sir Wesley, who had a
beautiful wife. However, his wife died in childbirth, she survived
long enough to name her daughter, Frederella. Sir Wesley was grief-
stricken with the death of his beautiful wife, but he had his
daughter. Sir Wesley and Frederella, or Fred as Sir Wesley called his
daughter, lived happily together for several years. Until Sir Wesley
met Lady Lilah, who he became instantly smitten with, despite the
fact that Lady Lilah was quite evil. He refused to see her faults and
married Lady Lilah and brought her and her two daughters home. Lady
Lilah despised the beautiful Fred, as did her daughters: Buffy and
Cordelia. Buffy and Cordelia were both pretty in their own way but
the two of them were extremely shallow and could not stand the
possibility of someone being prettier than them. So between the three
of them, they planned and plotted a way to make sure that Frederella
would be less beautiful and also so that any suitors would overlook
her. Lady Lilah forced Frederella to work in the kitchens and as a
maid to herself and her daughters. Sir Wesley, by this time, was
locked up in a tower, forced to work to make more wealth for Lady
Lilah, Buffy and Cordelia to spend. So it came to be that Sir Wesley
was locked in his own tower while his daughter slaved for three
horrible people. However, many who knew Lady Lilah and her daughters,
often felt that if the two girls were away from their mother they may
have become very nice girls.
After several years of this, Frederella remained beautiful
despite the filth and dirt that covered her from head to toe. Even
though she wore rags, she wore them in such a way that they could
have been the latest fashions. She worked hard and often with little
sleep and remained as positive and happy as she could be. She would
even help her father with his sums, so that the family wealth grew
and grew, regardless of how quickly Lady Lilah and her daughters
spent money. One day, a man came to the manor house that they lived
in with an invitation for Sir Wesley, his wife, and his three
daughters. The invitation was to the King's Castle, which was a few
miles away from their home. The invitation invited all the members of
the family to attend a grand ball for the King's son who had come of
age. Lady Lilah had a problem since she could not attend the King's
ball without her husband. She could possibly get away without
bringing Frederella, but there was no way she could attend the ball
without Sir Wesley, that was unheard of. So she plotted and planned
with her daughters.
"What shall I do girls? We must attend this ball, but if I allow that
fool out of the tower he might try to destroy what we all have." Lady
Lilah worried.
"Well mother, can't you just say that he's ill?" Buffy asked.
"Stupid much? Mother, just threaten him with his precious Frederella.
He won't do anything to harm her. And if you threaten to marry her to
some peasant, I am sure that he will do whatever you want." Cordelia
suggested.
"Cordelia, you are such a smart girl. That is what we will do."
And so it was that the three of them planned how to attend the ball
with Sir Wesley and to make sure that he would remain quiet about how
Lady Lilah and her daughters had treated him and his daughter.
However, Lady Lilah needed Frederella's help, since she was
the only one in the family that could make special enough dresses for
the Grand Ball. So, Lady Lilah decided that she would deceive the
smart and beautiful girl into thinking that she would be allowed to
go. Frederella desperately wanted to go to the Grand Ball, just to
see the pretty dresses and perhaps some old family friends. So she
worked day and night making the lovely dresses for Lady Lilah and her
daughters but on the day of the ball when the dresses were done there
was no time to make a dress for her, so that Lady Lilah merely
laughed at her. "And what should you were, Frederella? Ashes and
rags? Do you think that will make an impression on the King and his
household?"
"Really, Frederella, if you had wanted to go to the Ball, you should
have made your own dress as well. As if I would loan you one of
mine." Buffy laughed at her stepsister.
"I don't think that you would fit into one my dresses since you're
only skin and bone." Cordelia sneered.
So it was that Frederella was left behind, and her father could not
say anything to anyone at the Grand Ball about the evilness of Lady
Lilah for fear that she would marry his beautiful daughter off to
some villager.


Part II

Poor Frederella was crying outside of the kitchens as she had
been left behind when her family went to the Grand Ball. Now she
would never have a chance at marrying someone and escaping her evil
stepmother, Lady Lilah, and her two wicked stepsisters. She was
doomed to be a kitchen slave, despite the fact that her mother had
been of noble birth. Furthermore, her father, Sir Wesley, was doomed
to be Lady Lilah's slave as well.
She sobbed and took no notice of the faint green-glowing bubble that
floated towards her. As it floated towards her the bubble grew
greener and brighter, and became larger. Until it was right in front
of the sobbing girl and suddenly a strange man appeared. Frederella
looked up in shock at the man who stood in front of her, if a man was
what he was. He was tall, and green, he had had horns and red eyes,
and he was dressed in a bright yellow suit with a blue shirt.
"Hello Freddie-kins. Why are you crying and not at the ball, where
you should be dancing?" the man asked.
"Who … are … you?" Frederella asked, still crying.
"Well sweetie-pie, I am you're Fairy Godfather, but you can call me
Lorne."
"Fairy Godfather?"
"Yes sweet-cheeks. Now dry your tears, because we have a lot of
things to do if you're to attend that ball. You do want to go,
right?"
"Yes."
"Good then, lets get started. Shall we?" Lorne held out his hand to
Frederella. Who tentatively took it. Frederella was surprised with
the magic that Lorne could do, and at his singing. But nonetheless,
he was a Fairy Godfather, and he was able to grant her wishes. First
of all, he made a lovely red ball gown appear out of nowhere, for
Frederella to wear. He also made a pumpkin into a carriage, and six
white rats into a six white horses. For a driver, he snapped his
fingers and muttered a few magical phrases and a tall blond man
appeared.
"Sorry Freddie-kins, he's not the nicest of drivers, but he will get
you there and back in one piece. Just make sure you are back home by
midnight. You got that Spikey-poo?"
"Quit calling me that awful name." The driver snarled at Frederella's
Fairy Godfather.
"Well I am off, have a wonderful time. Be back by midnight. And oh
yeah, what's a ball without some beautiful shoes." Lorne snapped his
fingers and glass slippers appeared on Frederella's feet and he
disappeared.
"Well luv, are we going or not? I don't have all night, you know."
Spike growled at her.
"Alright then."
"Well luv, get in the carriage, I am a driver, so I drive. I don't
cart you in and out of the bloody thing."
Frederella got into the carriage and they were off to the Grand Ball.
Frederella sat for most of the ride in shock; she never knew she had
a Fairy Godfather. And she wished that she could have shared this
with her father.
Part III

Prince Connor surveyed the crowded ballroom and was bored. He had no
idea why his father, King Angel, had felt the need to throw such a
lavish ball to mark his coming of age. It was horrible and he knew if
his mother, Queen Darla, had been alive, she would have enjoyed the
party as much as his father was. The prince sighed, and wondered what
was the point of having such a lavish ball to get him a mate, if
there was no girl here that he found attractive enough. The last
mother he had meet with charming daughters had practically stalked
him. He had to escape to the stables for an hour before he dared come
back. It had only been for the help of Lord Gunn that he had escaped
the lovely Lady Lilah and her annoying daughters. He had heard that
Sir Wesley had three daughters, but only two had shown up. For that
he was very thankful, especially if the third daughter was like her
sisters. Proper little ladies dressed up in splendid finery but
boring and dull nonetheless. They had no minds of their own, and he
was sure some of what they had said to them had come from their
mother's lips in the carriage on the way to the Ball. He knew that as
a Prince he was supposed to marry and he supposed that it was a toss
up between the lovely Lady Willow who had arrived with her father,
Lord Giles, or most likely the insipid but lovely Lady Cordelia. He
sighed and shrugged, he was a prince and he had to marry so that
there would be an heir, but why couldn't he have met a lovely girl
who was both pretty and intelligent? Who was different from the rest
of the pack?
"What's wrong Prince Connor? Not liking the lovely beauties of the
kingdom displayed for you to choose?" Sir Gunn asked.
"Oh they are lovely to look at, but not one of them strike my fancy.
They are so dull and boring. I am sure that they merely parrot what
their Mamas say. Why can't I meet a girl who's beautiful but smart?"
Prince Connor asked his retainer.
"I don't know, but I think you underestimate some of the girls who
are here. What about the Lady Willow?" Sir Gunn asked the prince.
"I wouldn't deny that she's lovely but her and Lady Faith seem a
little too close if you were to ask me."
"Well there's all the lovely Lady Tara. Or what…"
"Wait … Sir Gunn, who is that?" Prince Connor cut off the older man,
and pointed at Frederella who had just entered the ballroom.
"Well that is … it can't be." Sir Gunn looked perplexed.
"Who is she?"
"Well that would be Frederella, Sir Wesley's eldest daughter, the one
who had supposedly gone to take care of a sick aunt." Sir Gunn
replied.
"Well I don't care why she is here, just that she is. She is the most
beautiful girl I have ever seen." Prince Connor replied and started
to make his way towards the girl.

Part IV

"I don't believe it! How could she have gotten a dress like that?
Girls, is that one of your gowns that your sister is wearing?" Lady
Lilah hissed at her daughters, having noticed the arrival of her
stepdaughter.
"Mother, she looks lovely but that is not a dress of mine or
Cordelia's." Buffy replied.
"Buffy, shut up. There's no way she could look prettier than you or
I." Cordelia said and poked her sister.
"Girls, get your stepfather, I am sure he's at the root of this. And
there will be Hell to pay. I didn't want that stupid girl here, and
now it looks like the prince is interested in her." Lady Lilah
snarled.
"But mother, Cordelia has a proposal from a Duke, and a Sir is
interested in me. What could be wrong with that? Surely its better
for the family if one of us, even if it is Frederella attracts the
attention of the Prince?" Buffy asked her mother.
"Buffy, you are so silly sometimes. What makes you think Frederella
would be kind to us? We were never kind to her, now were we? Let's go
find Sir Wesley." Cordelia dragged her sister off in the direction of
their stepfather.

Meanwhile, Prince Connor had made his way to where Frederella
was standing watching the people at the ball. She looked a little
stunned at the grandness of the occasion.
"First time to a ball?" Prince Connor asked.
"What? Oh yes, and its so lovely. I can't believe how many people
there are here." Frederella gushed out.
"Yes, I know and they are all here because of me."
"You? Oh no, you're the Prince! Oh I am so sorry." Frederella said as
she curtsied.
"Don't worry about it, I am tired of all these people standing on
tradition for me. Just because of who my father is. I sometimes wish
that I wasn't a prince but a farmer so that people would look at me
for me and not because of my parentage."
"You sound bitter."
"I guess I am. It's just that no one wants to know me for me, they
want me because of who my father is."
"Well I am interested in you for you. I don't really know your
father, and don't really care if he is the king and all. You seem
nice enough. I am Frederella but you can call me Fred." Fred
breathlessly said.
"I am Connor, and you must call me that, none of this prince stuff.
Shall we dance, Fred?"
"Ok."
And so the two made their way to the dance floor and danced for
hours. They talked while they dance, they told one another their
dreams and the realty of their lives. The darkness and the light in
their lives, as well as their hopes to escape the prisons that had
been made for them. It did not go unnoticed by the king or by
Frederella's father and stepmother that the two danced with one
another and no one else.
"Sir Wesley, I think I might be hearing wedding bells between our two
children." King Angel said to Frederella's father.
"Well in affairs of the heart and marriage, you must ask my wife,
Lady Lilah. But I am all for the match." Sir Wesley wisely said.
"Well Lady Lilah, what do you think?" the King asked the evil
stepmother.
"Although Prince Connor seems quite taken with Frederella, I think my
daughter Cordelia would be a better match. Frederella does not know
any matters of the state, and is quite immature." Lady Lilah
continued to scheme to get one of her daughters a higher title.
"Are you disagreeing with me, Lady Lilah?"
"Your Grace, of course not. I want what is best for my daughters and
your son. I just thought that perhaps you should know that Frederella
has lived a very sheltered life. And might not be suitable for the
court."
"Lady Lilah, I have heard rumors about you and your evil ways. I am
seen evidence of it now. Your daughters have been offered very
prestigious marriage proposals, yet you still scheme to get them the
highest proposal in the kingdom. In fact, I sent one of my men to
your house tonight and there he found Frederella in rags and ashes.
And since Sir Wesley has been absent from court quite a bit, I can
assume that there is one culprit for both occurrences and that would
be you. I banish you from my kingdom Lady Lilah." King Angel snapped
his fingers and a very nasty looking man appeared in front of him.
"Your highness?"
"Clem I would like you to escort the former Lady Lilah from the ball
and my castle and to the borders of our kingdom as she is banished
from this kingdom now and forevermore for her evilness."
"Certainly your highness." Clem stated. Clem dragged the unwilling
Lady Lilah from the castle.

"Oh no, what's happening to my stepmother?" Frederella cried as the
couple on the dance floor saw Lady Lilah being dragged out of the
ballroom. The two ran over to where their fathers were standing.
"What's going on Father? What did her mother do that made you have
taken out by that creature?" Prince Connor demanded of his father.
"Son, watch your criticism of me. I had her stepmother removed for
the evilness that she has caused in this kingdom. First of all she
married Frederella's father and imprisoned him and made his daughter
her personal slave. Then she prevented Sir Wesley from attending to
important matters of state. Not only that she tried to prevent a
proposal from you to Frederella from occurring. Would you like to
know more of that woman's evilness?"
"No father, I didn't know."
"But how did you know?" Frederella asked King Angel.
"Well my servant confirmed it my dear, when he met you at your home
and helped you get ready."
"You mean Lorne?"
"Yes, my dear."
"But what will my stepsisters do?"
"Well I am assuming that Lady Cordelia will accept Duke Xander's
proposal and marry him. Well Lady Buffy will go off with Sir Giles,
who is her real father."
"Oh I had no idea." Frederella sighed. And turned to her own father,
and hugged them, since the two of them were now free.
"Fred, please will you stay with me and marry me?" Prince Connor
asked her.
"But…. I guess… Father?" Frederella was confused.
"My dear, follow your heart." Sir Wesley advised his daughter.
"Then yes I will marry you Prince Connor." She pulled the prince to
her and the two kissed passionately in front of the shocked court.
When the two moved apart, the court started to applaud the Prince and
his intended bride.

Part V

Connor woke up in a cold sweat in his dorm room. He had no idea who
the people in his dream were but they had all seemed familiar.
Especially the man that had been his father in his dream, King Angel,
but it could not be possible. His father was a middle-aged man who
was happily married and had two other kids. His father looked nothing
like this King Angel, who Connor had never seen in his life. But
there was a similarity, and to Fred, and Gunn, and Wesley, and
especially Cordelia. He shuddered when he thought of Cordelia too
much. He couldn't get the dream out of his head or the kiss that he
had shared with Frederella. Why was he dreaming of a Cinderella? He
hadn't seen the movie since he had been five years old. And anyhow it
made no sense to him that he would dream about a girl named
Frederella and not Cinderella, even if there was a reason for him to
dream about Cinderella.

End.