Christina woke up in Stephanie's bed. She looked around, seeing the lavish room in front of her. "I thought I was dreaming." She said to herself. "But I'm not." She said, half in wonder and amazement, and half in pure and utter fear. She was still breaking the law. 

She glanced down beside the bed, seeing Skip, asleep on the cat bed. "Skip?" Skip woke up at that, ready to attack whoever was taking Stephanie's place. He tried to give a hiss, but found himself growling instead. Instantly, he knew who it was. For some strange, cosmic reason, he couldn't ever meow or hiss around Christina. Instead, he barked, and growled. Which meant... 

Skip gave a happy bark, but Christina shushed him. "Shh! Skip, we've gotta, you know, act like we live here! We can't give ourselves away." She thought for a second. Despite knowing that he couldn't answer, she asked anyway. "Do you know where the princess is?" Both she and Skip knew that there would be no answer, so they both stayed silent. Until there was a knock at the door. Someone was there. 

"Be a princess. Be a princess." Christina mumbled. She took a deep breath. "Come in." She said, unnecessarily posh-like. 

A maid walked into the room. She was holding a tray of eggs, sausage, and various fruits. Christina couldn't help but chukle, remembering what Stephanie had said in the town. I thought you were promised cookies, Stephanie. She thought. 

"Did I hear a dog, your highness?" The maid looked around. "Should I call the royal dogcatcher?"

"Oh! No, no, dog? Everything is fine." She managed to spit out, despite her nerves. The maid, dismissing the princess' awkwardness as embarrassment from running away, set the tray down on the bed. 

"Your breakfast, your highness." She said, giving a quick curtsy. 

"Really? In bed?" Christina's eyes lit up with excitement. 

"As always." The maid replied, a little confused. 

"Oh! Um, of course. Thank you." Christina looked down at the tray. "Look at all this food! Want some?"

The maid backed away. "Oh, I couldn't."

"But there's enough to feed an army! Come on, take some." She handed a piece of bacon, wrapped in a cloth, to the maid. Confused as ever, the maid took it. 

"I, uh, thank you, um, m'lady." She tried to brush off the initial awkwardness with more protocol. "I'll draw your bath. Would you like bubbles, mineral salts, or lavender oil?"

Christina, already eating, gave a short chuckle. "Everything!" She laughed. She had done it. Although the maid was incredibly confused, she wasn't suspicious. She was on the right track to impersonating Stephanie perfectly. 

A little while later, Nathan was talking to Josh in the hallway. He was doing something stupid, again. "Are you sure that you're in the right here? You're just going to tell her that you disguised yourself as your own page? Are you sure that's wise, King Nathan?"

Nate took off his page hat and looked down at it. "No, I'm not sure. But I have to be honest. I think she'll understand. I didn't want to marry a stranger any more than she did." He went off to her room.

Meanwhile, Christina was already in the bath. She knew that if she wore the wig in the bath, it would degrade and turn into a dead giveaway. So instead, she took it off and made sure not to get her own hair wet. Besides, she had made it very clear that no one was to disturb her in the bath. And, as much as she hated to admit it, she felt amazing. She didn't really know what hot water felt like. 

"I may never come out." She sighed. Skip, sitting beside her on a towel stand, made an odd sound. 

"What's wrong, boy? You sick? Something in your throat?"

Skip made the sound again. A weak sort of, "Mehh," sound, high pitched, like he was forcing it out of his throat. "Wait a second... are you trying to... meow?" 

Skip made the sound again, this time with it unwillingly turning into another bark. "Oh, fella." She said. "I can see it when you're feeling upset, you can't hide that from me. You're not the perfect cat, so why keep trying to be? You're more than that, buddy. I wish you could see the you I see."

"Mehh..." 

Christina chuckled. "Mm-No." She said, mimicking the strange sounds Skip was making. She hopped out of the tub, dried herself off, and put the wig back on. She also put on a bathrobe. "I say, if you bark, celebrate it. Noah's ark should have had a cat like you." She pet his head, picking him up and going back to the bedroom. "And if what you are is strange, it doesn't mean you should change yourself. It only means you should change your point of view."

Nate, standing outside the door, knocked on the door to Stephanie's bedroom. "Princess Stephanie?" He asked. Christina didn't hear him. She placed Skip back on the ground and grabbed a hairbrush, tossing it over to Skip. Nate peeked in between the doors, seeing "Stephanie" playing with the cat. He felt a smile coming up on his face. 

"Hey buddy, remember what Madam Carp used to say before she went crazy? 'To thine own self be true.' Your barking is the cat's meow." Skip picked up the hairbrush off the floor and brought it back, and Christina pet him. "It's how I know you're you."

Nate chuckled and stepped back from the door. He didn't have to disguise himself to see what she was really like, after all. She had just shown him. The "real Stephanie" was a good-hearted person, fun and even a little spunky. He stepped back and went back down the hall. He'd tell her later. She was clearly having fun. But he knew, he had to marry this girl.

Christina kept on playing with Skip. "You don't need bows or tiaras." She said. "You're the perfect doggish-cat. Look at all the things you can do! Your nose is always right. When you chase your tail, it's enchanting. When you're panting, It always brings a smile to my face."

She picked him up one more time and sat on the bed. "There is not one hair or you that I would rearrange. I love you the way you are, and that will never change." She nuzzled his nose playfully.

Skip barked. 

"That's my boy."

*This song is so cute.*