Lady Lizzie stepped forwards, towards this knight who seemed so similar and yet so incredibly different to those who often visited her castle door.

"Hello, valiant Sir Knight. I am Fair Lady Princess Lizziard. Who might you be?" She asked, all but unable to move her eyes away from his.

"I am Sir Fredge, Fair Lady." Fred meant to bow his head, but he was having difficulty blinking, let alone looking away from the princess. She was glamorous, with her tall golden crown, flowing dress, eyes sparkling in a mixture of moonlight and glowing flowers. The chrysanthemum behind her ear held a faint glow even still.

"That's quite alright, Sir Fredge. Are you a knight?"

Sir Fredge nodded, "That I am, Fair Lady. I am not from any village near here, however. My battalion were from quite some distance away." Fred pushed his visor further up his head, so that he could see the princess as clearly as possible. "I hope you'll forgive me, princess. It was not my intention to trespass upon your garden. In fact, I hadn't realised it was owned."

"You're no more a trespasser than myself. I came across this garden not so long ago."

Fred felt himself relax considerably, "I am relieved to hear that, Princess. This garden is a truly..." he broke eye contact for a moment, looking bashfully off to the side, "beautiful place."

Lady Lizzie's cheeks turned a pale pink, "It is rather enchanting, isn't it? What brings you here, Sir Knight?" Had he come to rescue her? Were there more knights in the garden? Had he been in the garden before? The questions were alphabet soup in her mind.

"I came across a cave that led through to this garden a while ago. It was the glowing of the flowers that intrigued me. I like to collect flowers," Fred explained, glancing at the chrysanthemum behind the princess's ear.

"Oh, I see. Were you here yesterday, by chance?" Lizzie asked.

"Yes. I came back tonight for a chrysanthemum I dropped in my haste yesterday. In fact, I believe it is that same flower in your hair." Fred gestured to the faintly glowing petals.

"This? I hope I haven't ruined it." Lizzie raised her hand to return the flower to him.

Sir Fredge took her hand in his own before she could disturb the flower. "No princess, that flower is yours. Its beauty is nothing alone when compared to something so breath-taking as yourself." Fred spoke in a nervous rush. He couldn't look away from Lizzie.

"Why thank you, Sir Fredge." Lizzie stepped towards him.

Fred stepped towards her. He took both of Lizzie's hands in his own.

The space between them closed almost imperceivably.

And then they kissed. The garden seemed to glow even more brightly than usual.

They moved back, hand in hand, a rush unlike anything either had felt before rushing through them, through the air like the smell of a pungent cheese – almost tangibly resting in the air around them.

The following weeks passed in a wild blur of excited conversation, moving, and adoption.

Sir Fredge moved out of his cottage, bringing his three possessions to the castle to live with the princess. On the way to the castle, he came across a large, scruffy grey dog. It had a thick collar around its neck, which read Ecosia. Fred decided to bring the dog with him.

Ecosia had been searching for a travel-companion for a while as it happened, and seemed content with this arrangement.

As it happened, Lizzie quite liked dogs. She liked Ecosia, and even set-up a room for the dog, all her own.

That initial spark that had drawn them together when first they'd met had never quite managed to fade away.

Fred read books on flowers and expanded his pressed flower collection through carefully monitored cuttings from the glowing garden. Lizzie read with him, her own books of a different sort from the garden books Fred was a fan of. Nevertheless, they enjoyed each other's company, sitting in silence and comfort in the library, until it was dark enough to visit their precious garden.

Lizzie eventually bought a milkshake from just down the road. It was everything she'd wanted it to be, and became part of her journey to the main village every so often. Sometimes, Fred would get one too – only on his way back from the cemetery.

John was never seen by the princess again, but he had in fact visited once, to ensure she was safe and happy. Upon seeing Ecosia, and Sir Fredge, in the castle, John had seen his job as complete.

He had then moved on to another time period. Perhaps the early 21st century, to play a part in the photography project of a college student, maybe. Who was to know? There were only so many employment opportunities for mannequin heads such as himself.

Shaggy was quite content to be left to himself, far above the rest of the mortals and immortals. It was neither here nor there whether he had created the universe. If Shaggy believed it to be true, then it would happen. That was all there was to it, and that was how it would always be, because Shaggy believed it should be so.

~~~~~~~~

And so, they all lived happily ever after...

Except Punkus, of course, but that won't matter for quite some time.

Right?