The aura of loneliness surrounding the family treehouse was looming. It held storms; the deep, gloomy kind that always linger, no matter how much the thunder dies down. If the dark presence lingering within the house was vanquished, maybe it could have been a beautiful place.

"Rebecca... I'm sorry." November found herself at a loss for words. She may have constantly felt alone, but she never knew true loneliness. Hearing Rebecca's story put her into perspective; you're never truly alone until you've lost everybody.

The clouds in Rebecca's eyes came back together. She had seen too much. Learned too much. Felt too much. Looking back at her house brought back no emotions anymore, just a small reminder every now and again of what it used to be. Maybe this treehouse was just as beautiful as it was to November as it was for Rebecca before her family slipped away.

"Don't be sorry, November." Rebecca laughed. "Parents in this world die all of the time."

November knew that it wasn't fair - Rebecca had to suffer so much that she had gotten used to it. That was why all the storms had calmed, the rain had stopped pouring and the fires had diminished. All that was left were the clouds; emptiness, loneliness - the pond was the only place with any sentimental value left. November loved the pond for its beauty, Rebecca loved it because it gave her feeling.

Sad, really.

November thought about it all for a while, but still couldn't find the perfect words for it. So she just sighed, and tried to sympathise with the girl. "That's unfortunate."

"It is." Rebecca admitted. "But it's real."

'She's only twelve years old and she's already lost both of her parents.' November thought to herself, wondering if she'd ever truly understand. For a second, she reflected on her own life - then she realised that maybe the two weren't so different. She never had two parents to begin with, just an angry mess disguised as a mother. Her anger got so much that she ran away, and there she was. About to take a treehouse tour. With someone who she's just met. Yep, stranger danger.

"Hey November, you want to stay in my treehouse for the night?" Rebecca grinned, swinging onto a tree banch perched slightly above their heads. Her blonde tresses gently swished in the cool wind, as November looked in admiration at her long locks. November accepted the offer with a big, cheesy grin on her face. She wanted to learn more about Rebecca; she was a mystery.

The rising crept over the horizon. The yellow and purple tones in the sky were an ethereally pleasant sight. The constant beauty after so much struggle made her smile hard when she woke up. She had just had her first sleepover in her new friend's treehouse. Suddenly, the realisation hit her.

"Hey, Rebecca! Sorry to bother you, but..." November grinned, already ecstatic about this new, bright day. She sensed that this day was going to be positive and sunny. The sky agreed, the sun shining happily over their heads.

"Yes, November?" Rebecca replied, rubbing her tired eyes. She dodged the roof of her treehouse before her head could hit it, grinning at the speed of her dodge. "Fun fact! Always bumping your head improves your reflexes." She laughed, making November chuckle to herself.

"You told me you don't really have a home, and you go from place to place. So, may I ask about this treehouse?" November laughed, pretending to suspiciously eye her surroundings. "Do I have to become Detective November?"

Rebecca grinned at November's silly antics, always enjoying her presence. She played along, pretend guilt spreading across her face. "Did you naturally assume that this treehouse was mine?" Rebecca chuckled.

"Wait, so you're saying someone could've eaten cabbage in here? Or banged their head on that roof before you? Or DIED in here?!" November exclaimed, fascinated by what could potentially have happened in this treehouse before Rebecca started living there.

"That is absolutely what I am saying." Rebecca grinned cheekily. "But it is interesting, huh? If a house is old, then it has stories before you and stuff. When other people lived in this treehouse, they could have made a little playground in here and I would never know about it."

"Hey, I never thought about it that way but that's so cool!" November laughed, picturing another joyous family before Rebecca's smiling and gently pushing a toddler down a big, yellow slide. She imagined the magical sound of a toddler's laugh filling their ears, making everybody in the treehouse smile. Memories were special - that treehouse could have had a lot of them.

"Exactly. We should ask the treehouse one day how many cool memories it has, I've always been curious about that stuff. That's if the treehouse responds, of course." Rebecca chuckled, which made November chuckle too. Her laugh was just so contagious.

"So, anyway, Austin and I are meeting up in the markets later today. Would you like to come with us?" Rebecca asked, gesturing towards the small food stalls that November had already grown to love dearly.

"No thanks." November politely rejected the offer, sending a reassuring smile in Rebecca's direction and looking into her caramel eyes. 'Rebecca has such lovely eyes. I never noticed that because I always thought her hair was cool.'

"Why? Do you have a crush on him?" Rebecca giggled intensely, before making a face and laughing more sarcastically. "Okay, wait, I could never imagine having a crush on Austin. We are way too close as friends."

'Nope, I have a crush on you.' November thought to herself. 'Wait... WHAT!? DID!? I!? JUST!? SAY!? OR THINK!?'

"No, silly." November grinned, imagining the thought of having a crush on the goofy, black-haired boy. Austin was too much of a friend to her. The grin on November's face quickly faltered. "I just have a bad feeling that my mom will somehow find me if I'm out there today."

"Your loss." Rebecca smiled, waved, and jumped out of the treehouse. "Stay safe, Vember."

"There she is." Redhead butler whispered from below the treehouse. The other butlers crept along the dusky brown concrete, smiling upon reaching their victorious moment. They would not return to Virginia's palace empty-handed. A wave of relief fell over Robert especially; he knew he had been in Queen Virginia's bad books recently.

"Come here, sweetheart." Another smirked, shooting a leg of Rebecca's treehouse, so that it wobbled slightly. The wooden structure continued to stand sturdily and tall, but the sound of the shot was enough to frighten November.

"Woah, what was that?" November carefully asked herself, climbing down the treehouse ladder to investigate. Her footsteps slowly approached the butlers, who were concealed by a large, forest green bush beneath the treehouse. Victory was coming closer and closer to the servants - they could practically feel it.

November's blistered feet finally reached the ground, and she began to pan the landscape curiously. All she could see was the beauty that she had always seen, until Redhead butler put his thumb up. Rushing towards the young princess, two other butlers grabbed November from behind.

"No! No! Get off me!" November desperately exclaimed, never wanting to go back to the palace. She kicked the butlers in pure agony, knowing that she would feel the same pain if she were to return home. Well, not home - to the castle.

"Someone, please! Austin..." November pleaded, her fighting will slowly weakening. Resisting the clutch of the butlers was becoming more difficult by the second. At this point, she had guessed that she would not make it out of their arms. But still, her lingering hope drove her to make a final call. "Anyone?"

"Rebecca..."

Her voice slowly faded as she was dragged through the palace gates. Immediately, she was greeted by the artificial look of the palace. Gold engravings lined the fences. She remembered them all too well. A butler who wasn't occupied securely locked the gate to stop her from escaping, pulling on the padlock passionately.

"Nice try, November." He laughed, making sure to send a satisfied smirk her way. These men were all malicious; just as greedy as her damned mother.

"No... No... I can't be here again." She pinched herself, pleading to the darkening skies that she was not really here. November already missed the feeling of mother nature's love; the swirling, fresh breeze, flashes of green and the treehouse.

She also missed, most terribly, her friends. And even more darkly in her heart, she missed Rebecca.

November started to rain. Hard.

The raindrops fell out of her green eyes; she didn't care what looks the butlers gave her, she was going to cry. She didn't feel bad about it. "No! You're all terrible people!" She screamed, the rain getting heavier and the stormclouds rising. She felt everything and nothing all at once; she was convinced that she would never get to go back.

"Now, we're going to send you up to your mother." Redhead Butler smirked with a contentment that nothing else could fulfil so deeply, carrying a crying November up the spiralling staircase and into Virginia's living room.

"Here she is, my queen."

The walls were all prettily, precisely painted. Too bad nobody would ever know how many times she'd been pushed into them. "November." Virginia scowled, looking up from the novel that she was reading. She got up from the perfectly placed sofa and walked towards her daughter, more anger in every single footstep.

"Mommy." November growled right back. It was official; the two were going to be at war. There was no greater rivalry November had than with her own mother.

"So lovely to see you again." The queen hissed in reply, eyeing her daughter with disgust. 'Am I even speaking to November anymore? Her attitude has completely changed.'

"You don't sound very happy."

"I'm fluent in sarcasm." Virginia simply shrugged, walking around the room.

The rainfall had stained November's cheeks. She caught her reflection in a bright green mirror nearby; she had never cried so many tears in one day. She thought her mother hated green, but this mirror matched her eyes. Strange.

"If you're going to treat me like this, why bother sending me back here?" November asked. She wistfully stared out of the window. She had been at the castle for five minutes, and already wanted to leave.

"To get you away from those peasants."

"You know what? You're wrong, mom. 'Those peasants' happened to be the nicest people I've ever met." November argued, smiling at all of the memories. The conversation about the treehouse having history; a more loving history than this stupid castle could ever have.

"That's exactly what Victoria said the other day, you two could both very well be lying. Even if they are 'wonderful people', I do not care. They have never proved to be that way." Virginia sneered.

"Just admit it, mom. You're outnumbered, 2 to 1."

"That doesn't mean that the 1 can't overpower the 2."

"2 is my lucky number." November pouted.

"I don't care." Virginia shrugged.

"Well, guess what?!" November exclaimed. Now did not seem like an appropriate time to bring up an even more enfuriating point, but it was going to 'come out' eventually.

"What? If this is about my horrible parenting-"

"No! Here's my BIG secret for you, mom." November made jazz hands. "I actually like girls. I think. I like this cute girl."

"You're too young to figure out your sexuality."

"Said nobody to the heterosexual." November said, a fire in her eyes.

"I can make gay marriage illegal." Virginia smirked. Her authorative voice always annoyed November; she didn't have all of the power in the world that she thought she had.

"You don't have the power to do that! It's already legal here, and that wasn't your choice. It was the government." November smirked proudly at her education. Information that she once thought would never serve her was now helping her to finally win.

"Take that back of it's off with your head." Virginia hissed, disgusted with the consistent comebacks.

"You see, mommy, not even that can stop me from confessing who I am."

"Because for the sake of the girl I like, I'm happy to admit that I like her."

November blushed a little.