Realized that I hadn't posted this here yet so I decided to. It was already up on fanfiction.net. This one falls in winter of that first year, so definitely takes place after Flying Through the Sunset.
Snow Troubles
It was very easy for the two of them to meet up and keep their outings together secret. Neither of them was a Color Kid and so they were never in the main room of the Castle much. Moonglo was often sleeping most of the day, and Stormy was off taking care of storms and her own weather creations during the day, or taking a break somewhere in Rainbow Land. No one would even begin to suspect, unless they caught Moonglo rising just a bit earlier each evening or Stormy acting mysteriously almost happy at times. But no one ever did. Weeks and months passed, and the two were able to spend their own time together, merely enjoying each other’s company. They had no idea what it was that they shared, but it was special, and to them it was something to guard very closely. However, it all changed at the beginning of winter that year…
Everyone knew very well that winter was Stormy’s favorite season, and that she always looked forward to creating the first snowfall of the year. She had been known to get carried away at times, and had created quite a few large blizzards in her time in Rainbow Land, much to the chagrin of everyone else. The blizzards kept everyone locked warmly inside. The Kids and Rainbow would take turns shoveling snow paths outside of the Castle. There was always plenty of hot chocolate to go around on these days, as someone always kept it nice and hot. Even the sprites stayed home from the mines with their families, enjoying a rare day off. No one got mad at Stormy for the blizzards; sometimes she had to have her fun too.
This particular winter was one of those years. For the past few years, Stormy had gone easily with the snow, giving the inhabitants of Rainbow Land a nice snow fall, one that was good for playing and building with, but not one that would keep them locked in for days. It was what many would yearn for – the perfect snow. This year, Stormy was itching to do a good storm, a really good storm. She missed the days that everyone would stay inside and enjoy the rare day off in winter. Group interaction wasn’t her favorite thing, but she could see that her friends could use the break from all their work. They would never say so though, especially not Rainbow.
Stormy planned out her special blizzard, and kept it a secret from everyone, even Moonglo. She wanted it to be just right and didn’t want anyone to spoil her fun. She knew that it would take a good bit of effort, and some help from Skydancer too. She planned for it to happen before Christmas, so that everyone would have a white Christmas. After all, who wanted an ugly green Christmas? That never looked good or was any fun. In fact, a green Christmas didn’t feel much like Christmas at all.
It was late one night when she snuck out, meeting Skydancer just off the bridge. Together the pair rode off into the dark, starry night. They only took the chance to fly into the sky once they were close to Rainbow Falls. Nothing could be heard around them but the sound of falling water. An hour later, a snow fell gently onto the ground, then slowly got faster, until the dark sky could barely be seen amongst the heavily falling flakes. Up in the clouds, laughter could be heard, along with the clattering of hooves.
It was dawn when Stormy returned to the ground. She slid sleepily from Skydancer, and her feet crunched in the newly fallen snow. It came up to her knees and suddenly she felt very cold as it slid into her boots and melted. Luckily she was just outside the Color Castle and it wasn’t very far to walk. She pushed open the large wooden door and was surprised to find Moonglo staring back at her in surprise. She waited for the scolding she’d get for creating such a storm, but all Moonglo did was pull her inside and push the door shut. Then she simply took her by the hand and lead her down to the lower level.
Stormy realized how cold she truly felt now that the snow had seeped into her boots and soaked her skin. She shivered a bit, hoping that she could bury herself beneath a pile of blankets and warm up. Hot chocolate sounded good too. She wouldn’t admit that out loud to anyone though. She was to been the queen of storms and such. Such a queen did not suffer from feeling cold! She looked up as Moonglo opened the door to her room and pulled her inside.
“Don’t say anything. Just let me take care of things, all right?” stated Moonglo in a soft, sleepy voice.
Stormy nodded and then watched as Moonglo helped her to get out of her wet boots and then tucked her into her bed. Stormy stifled a yawn with her hand, feeling drowsy and sleepy all of a sudden. She’d been up all night creating her blizzard. She fought to keep her eyes open, but still felt the feather light kiss that Moonglo placed on her forehead. Then, she remembered no more as she drifted into a deep sleep.
Late afternoon rolled around before Stormy was woken up by a rapping on her door. She chose not to answer and covered her head with the blankets, which felt very snug and warm at that moment. Whoever was knocking entered anyway and Stormy peeked out of the top of the blanket, spotting Rainbow in front of her. “Stormy, what’s with the blizzard?”
“I wanted to have some fun,” replied Stormy, trying to make herself wake up. “There’s not been a good blizzard in years.”
“But now we can’t get any work done,” continued Rainbow.
Stormy pulled herself into a sitting position. “You needed a break, and so did the Color Kids. I wanted to give you that break.”
Rainbow smiled softly. “All right then. Come out and join us when you feel up to it.” She closed the door behind her, and Stormy was relieved that she didn’t scold. Then again, Rainbow wasn’t one to do that, unless it was warranted.
A few hours later, Stormy had risen and eaten alone in the kitchen. She could hear laughter from within the Color Castle, but was not eager to seek it out. She poured herself a mug of hot chocolate, adding some marshmallows.
“Good morning,” called a sleepy voice.
Stormy turned and smiled, seeing Moonglo there, still sleepy and yawning. It would be morning for her. “Good afternoon,” she replied with a small smile.
Moonglo moved further into the kitchen, fixing herself a quick breakfast. There weren’t any fruits to be had this time of year, so Moonglo found some cold oatmeal and warmed it up, drizzling some apple butter over top of it to sweeten it. She sat at the table to eat it, and Stormy sipped her hot chocolate, watching silently.
“I’ve a new book I want to show you,” began Moonglo, breaking the silence.
“Where’d you get it?” asked Stormy, curious.
“Rainbow gave it to me. Brian got it for her. It talks about the stars and moon. It has such a nice cover too…. a shimmering moon. I’m so excited to read it and learn about my favorite things.”
Stormy tilted her head, appearing deep in thought. “Why don’t you show me after you finish? You can bring it to my room and we can both look at it,” she suggested.
“All right.”
As soon as Moonglo finished, Stormy refilled her mug of hot chocolate and filled another one for Moonglo. She carried both mugs carefully, following as Moonglo led the way. When they arrived on the lower level, Moonglo opened Stormy’s door and then went to her room to get the book. Stormy turned on the lights in her room, a rare thing to do, and set the mugs on the floor. She then grabbed some pillows from her bed and stuck them into a corner, creating a cozy nook. Moonglo soon returned, and the two settled down together. Stormy rested against Moonglo, and held her hand as Moonglo began to read aloud softly. The dreamy voice relaxed Stormy and she settled in to listen.
Splat! The snowball smattered against Red Butler’s toboggan, a dark red that hid most of his bright red hair. “Hey now!” he called, quickly scooping more snow into his gloved hand and tossing it toward the attacker, Patty O’Green.
Patty dodged and ran, giggling. “Can’t get me, Red!”
Buddy Blue and Tickled Pink were creating a supply of snowballs behind a small wall that they’d built up. They didn’t see Canary Yellow sneak up on them and toss two snowballs, each one hitting them in the back. Canary turned and ran before they could attack her. Rainbow ran and tossed one toward Lala Orange, missing.
“Drat!” she called, laughing at her bad aim. A snowball smacked against her leg. Turning quickly, Rainbow scooped up more snow and shaped it into a snowball, tossing it back at Shy Violet.
“Come join us, Indigo!” she called.
Indigo had situated herself nearby, a pencil and pad of paper in hand. “No thanks. I want to write,” she replied.
The snowball fight continued, all in good fun. Giggling and laughter could be heard echoing across the land. “Where’s Stormy?” asked Tickled Pink.
“She’s probably still resting,” replied Rainbow. “She had a busy night.”
“I wonder if she’d want to join us,” suggested Patty O’Green.
“I could go see,” offered Red Butler.
“Just don’t force her to, all right?” reminded Rainbow.
“Of course!” called Red as he dashed off toward the Color Castle. With the heavy snowfall, his dashing was more like a quick walk than anything. He stomped his boots outside of the Castle before entering and heading to the lower level. Red Butler heeded Rainbow’s warning and listened outside of Stormy’s door. He heard a voice from within, and figured that Stormy wasn’t sleeping. Instead of knocking, he simply opened the door.
Stormy felt more relaxed than she had in a long time. Her head rested against Moonglo’s shoulder as she listened to Moonglo’s soft, dream-like voice read to her. Her hand rested comfortably in Moonglo’s. She felt at peace and content. When the door opened up, and she saw Red Butler standing there, staring, she merely looked up in surprise. Then she realized that he was staring directly at her. This sudden realization made her sit up quickly, which startled Moonglo from the passage she’d been reading. Moonglo looked from Stormy to Red Butler and got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Standing there, Red Butler realized that he’d been staring and stumbled over the question he’d planned to ask. “Um… would you like to…join our snowball fight outside?” he finished lamely.
“No,” replied Stormy angrily as she rose to her feet and began heading toward the door.
Moonglo reached out to grab Stormy’s wrist, but she only grabbed air. “Stormy!” she called, knowing she’d receive no reply.
Stormy brushed past Red Butler, who watched in shock, standing completely still. He turned to look at Moonglo, who had risen to her feet, book under her arm. “What’d I do?” asked Red Butler, confused.
“You kept staring at her like she’d done something wrong,” answered Moonglo simply.
“But I only came to ask a question,” protested Red Butler.
Moonglo didn’t reply as she walked past him and out into the hallway.
Red Butler turned to see where Moonglo had gone, but the hallway was empty. He couldn’t hear a sound and knew that he was alone. He sighed and turned around, heading back outside. This was not going to go over well.
Moonglo slipped outside and up to the Color Mines. She made sure she wasn’t seen and hid whenever she heard Rainbow’s or one of the Color Kids’ voices nearby. Once inside the Mines, she breathed a sigh of relief. She was concerned about what had happened, but knew that Stormy needed time alone. She would give her the time, and speak to her after she finished the sky in Rainbow Land, and before she headed off to Earth to take care of a few things there. Nite Sprite walked up to her, holding up his bag of nite sprinkles. She reached out and took his hand. “Let’s go,” she stated as the two of them shimmered translucently before becoming completely invisible, one with the evening sky.
Meanwhile, Stormy was up in the clouds, Skydancer in tow. Instead of stomping about angrily, she merely sat, brooding about what had happened. Skydancer trotted about, throwing his head in the air. Stormy wasn’t sure what to think. The time spent with Moonglo was special to her and something that she cherished in her own way. Now that someone else knew, she wasn’t sure what to think. She had seen Red Butler and Lala Orange together and knew that no one cared. They’d been known to have been together for quite sometime. There were even times that everyone had wondered about Patty O’Green and Buddy Blue. But her and Moonglo?
Stormy couldn’t even figure out why she felt so angry, or why she had quickly stormed off, leaving Moonglo behind. Now she realized that maybe that hadn’t been the best choice, but simply her temper getting the best of her. She wondered what Moonglo thought of it all.
“I knew I’d find you here,” called a voice, interrupting her thoughts.
Stormy looked up, surprised to see a shimmering, translucent Moonglo before her, holding hands with Nite Sprite. Moonglo became solid, and took a seat on the cloud across from Stormy. Nite Sprite walked hesitantly on the cloud at first, uncertain if he would fall through or not. He then opted to move far away from both girls and give them some privacy to talk. “Aren’t you supposed to be taking care of the sky?” asked Stormy.
“Yes, but I’ve finished with Rainbow Land for now. What I’ve done here will reflect on Earth, but I still need to go there to finish things up,” explained Moonglo.
“Oh…” was the simple reply.
Moonglo tilted her head and looked at Stormy. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.
Stormy sat silently for a few moments. She stared into the distance, beyond Moonglo, staring at the wall of the cloud. “I guess so,” she replied.
“Why’d you run earlier?”
“I…I don’t know. Scared…I guess.”
“Because of Red Butler?”
Stormy nodded. “I just… he…”
“Saw us together and you felt like he saw what he shouldn’t?” finished Moonglo.
“Well… yeah.”
Moonglo smiled softly and reached out to take Stormy’s hand in her own. “He doesn’t even know what he did wrong. It surprised him, that’s all.”
Stormy sighed and nodded. She knew Moonglo was right. “I guess everyone will know now.”
“Only if we tell them. I think Red Butler might have taken care of that for us though,” replied Moonglo thoughtfully.
“Let’s tell them then,” suggested Stormy, surprising herself and Moonglo.
Moonglo smiled softly. “All right, but I can’t stay long. I have to get to Earth.”
Stormy led her to Skydancer. Climbing aboard, Stormy held out a hand to pull Moonglo up behind her. “Let’s go to the Color Castle,” she told Skydancer, who dashed out of the cloud haven and back down to Rainbow Land, which had darkened as evening had settled across the land. Stars bedecked the sky, creating tiny bits of light alongside the moon, which shone brightly upon the Color Castle.
Sliding from Skydancer, Stormy reached up to take Moonglo’s hand. She helped her down and sent Skydancer on his way. Moonglo started to walk forward, but quickly noticed that Stormy wasn’t at her side. She turned her head and saw Stormy looking nervously toward the Color Castle. She walked back to where Stormy stood and kissed her cheek before taking her hand in her own. “Come on,” she encouraged softly.
The two girls entered the Color Castle together, and made their way to the dining area, where they knew the Color Kids and Rainbow Brite would be eating dinner. As they came closer, the voices they heard grew louder. Just outside the door, Stormy squeezed Moonglo’s hand and held tightly. Moonglo squeezed back, as if to reassure Stormy. Together, they crossed the threshold to the dining area.
It suddenly grew completely quiet. All eyes turned to the pair, and no one knew just what to say. Stormy looked down at her boots, not wanting to be the first to speak. Moonglo started to open her mouth, but Red Butler spoke first. “See, I told you,” he said matter-o-factly.
Anger suddenly boiled up inside Stormy, and she opened her mouth to speak, but Moonglo spoke before she did. “I’m sure Red Butler told you all what happened this afternoon. He took us by surprise. Stormy didn’t want to join you all because she was with me, reading a book.”
Rainbow stood, knowing what could happen if a misunderstanding occurred. “No worries,” she replied with a smile. “All that matters is that both of you are happy.”
“We are,” replied Stormy, a hint of a smile playing her face.
“Join us for dinner?” asked Tickled Pink, gesturing to the empty seats beside her.
“No thank you. I have to get to Earth,” answered Moonglo.
“I’ll stay,” replied Stormy, taking the empty seat next to Tickled Pink.
“Have fun, Moonglo!” called Patty O’Green.
Moonglo waved goodbye before leaving the room. Conversation continued where it left off, and Stormy found that she had nothing to worry about. No one seemed to mind or care about her and Moonglo. She smiled and joined in the conversation, listening to the stories of that afternoon’s snowball fight. Buddy Blue asked what book she and Moonglo had been reading, and Stormy explained what she remembered of the book, telling them all about how stars are born according to Earth science. Yes, Stormy found that nothing was different, just as Moonglo had said. She wondered why she’d been so worried about keeping everything a secret. Eventually, she’d find out why, reasons that no one in Rainbow Land would have ever conceived.
For now though, she felt as ease and quite content. There would be no more secrets. It wouldn’t have to be kept a secret and she wouldn’t have to worry about telling tales to explain where she’d been. She ate her dinner, pleased with her thoughts, and looking forward to the next afternoon when she’d see Moonglo again.
"If you're obsessed with your yesterday then you're destined to repeat it." - Ariel of Icon for Hire
I knew people looked at the series, but I didn't think anyone really got to reading them. Thanks for your feedback though. Really makes me smile!