Later that night, after the 'unfortunate' departure of Prince Average, Cinderella and Merlin were sitting together chatting, in a corner of the house while the others were stuffing their faces.

She initially pulled him aside to thank him for the numerous times he had saved her life in the past three days, but eventually it turned into them laughing, talking, sharing stories, and generally getting to know each other better. At this point they both knew they had feelings for the other, but since they didn't know it was mutual they didn't say anything.

The blonde had also figured out that her hosts truly were the Fearless Seven, but she decided to keep that information sealed for the moment for fear of seeming invasive.

"You should have seen the look on his bug ugly face when bunny came running at him," they laughed as he recounted when he sicked the wooden animal on the guard earlier. However, this brought around something Cinderella was desperate to point out to him.

"That's how you see everything, isn't it?"

"With my eyes," he responded, a confused look on his face. Cinderella shook her head and brought her knees up to her chest. "You always talk about what a person looks like."

"I do!" he sounded genuinely shocked. "I wouldn't say that. But I can't wait for you to see the real me." While he may have thought he was being figurative and cryptic, he didn't realize the blonde understood what he meant more then he thought. And she had to admit, she was curious about the human Merlin. Was a different from dwarf Merlin?

"What kind of Merlin is the real you?"

"You might not believe me, but the real me is famous, handsome, and even popular. Not short, stumpy and green. He's someone you'd be proud to be seen with and who is worthy of you."

She laughed at this, "Yeah your short, stumpy, and green, but your also a wonderful, charming person that I genuinely admire and already consider worthy." She confessed. However the sentimental comment seemed to completely escape him. "I'm not explaining it right. If you saw the real me, you'd now exactly what I mean."

Cinderella shook her head at this. Was he really this dense. "I think I can see the real you, and I like you just as you are."

Merlin had a hilarious gaping mouth and wide-eyed face, showcasing just how truly shocked he was at this statement. "Maybe I am getting somewhere with her. Does she maybe...return my feelings? No, how could she?" Instead he simply let out a dry laugh and continued trying to explain his true self to her. Even if Cinderella couldn't see him, she could still feel the presence of his old self.

"Huh, that's hilarious. Here, close your eyes and imagine the real me. I guarantee you it will be different."

Humoring him, the blonde did just that, and surprisingly to her, her brain's sensory gave her the feeling of a bigger figure next to her. "I do feel something different."

"Really!?"

"Yes, but eyes opened or closed to me your still Merlin. Now tell me, what am I to you." This was it! His response would give her all the information she would need to decipher his feelings for her.

"Your a gift," she heard him respond. "A gift that will transform me into someone amazing. Just like your amazing."

Good lord, he was charming! Cinderella felt little butterflies in her chest at his response. Any doubts about his feelings went out the window along with her's. She really was whipped for him. But then it hit her just who he was. She had gotten so used to green Merlin, she had forgotten about his other persona that was the true him.

If what she had heard was true, then the 'true' Merlin really was everything he had just described. So then, what did that make her. 

Here was good old self-doubt rearing it's ugly head. She was a scullery maid in a castle and with nothing to offer him. What if...she continued thinking as she opened her eyes to turned to him, only to be met with a set of puckered lips. Forgetting her woes, she laughed shamelessly at him, the wizard opening his eyes and averting them.

They sat in awkward silence for a moment, before he asked her a question which, if she was being honest, tugged at her heartstrings. "So, which one of your parents do you take after most?"

"Huh? What do you mean."

He blushed sheepishly at that. "Well since yesterday when I asked about Princess Snow White, I must confess I started to wonder about your parents and what they must have been like for you to have turned out like you have."

Cinderella chuckled before answering."Easily my mother. My father would always tell me how much I looked like her and how took after her in spirit. But they were both amazing. The best parents any kid could ask for."

He gave a gentle smile at that. "She sounds like a lovely women. I'd love to meet them one day if given the chance." However his smile fell when he noticed the forlorn look on the girls face. "Uh, you can't," she said somberly. "They both died when I was little."

Merlin instantly regretted bringing the subject, and placed a green hand over her tiny pale one, taking the time to notice how calloused they were. "I'm sorry. If I'd known I would have never..."

"No, don't worry about it," she cut him off, giving him a tiny smile. "If were gonna be friends you might as well here my basic life story."

"Are you sure?"

After a curt nod, she began. "Up through most of my childhood, I lived happily with my parents on their estate. Not a day went by that I didn't feel loved. Then soon after, my mother died of illness. I was seven. About 3 years later, he remarried to a women who became my step-mother, and I gained two step-sisters. They were civil at first, but that ended when my father passed in a carriage accident. From there on, my step-mother gathered up all her assets to blow on shopping, fired the staff, and made me her own personal slave."

"This went on for about 3 years. I could never go five minutes without one of them hollering my name to fix them a bath, make them food, dress them, or worse. One day while running an errand, I ran into Princess Snow White and we became fast friends, and after finding out about my situation she offered me a job as a maid in the castle. I accepted and that was the end of the nightmare. And that's it."

She had done it. Laid herself bare, well almost, she didn't mention the shoes, but that was a moot point. What would he think of her now. Would he decide he was too good for her, or that she was less? Afraid of the answer, Cinderella didn't meet his eyes. That is, until she felt a tiny hand grip her chin and turn her head, her blue eyes meeting his brown ones. 

However instead of a look of disgust on his face, she saw something else; Sympathy and genuine care. "I am so, so sorry you had to go through that." He said in one of the softest tones she had ever heard. Cinderella meanwhile felt like she might cry from the look he was giving her alone. He really was a good person. Blinking back her tears, she simply clutched his hand after she brought it down from her face and returned the smile.

"Don't be, it's not your fault. Besides, in a way I'm kind of grateful for it. If It hadn't happened I might not be who I am today, and I probably wouldn't have met you."

While he seemed to be stunned at her words at first, he eventually gave her a nod of agreement. They spent the rest of the night chatting away and laughing, not aware of what tomorrow would bring, but very aware of their growing feelings for each other.

*******

Morning had come and the team of eight were busy on their latest endeavor; raising the houses downed frame and repainting it. Earlier the triplets had set up a pulley system to put it back into place and currently Merlin was sliding down it towards Cinderella, landing on his feet in front of her.

She was standing on the frame, laughing at his flamboyant landing, and his he stood he took her hand to help her step down into the window cut out. Ever since last night the two had gotten a lot closer and were sharing more tiny acts of affection, which unbeknowst to them the others noticed and regarded with much envy. They knew he was the front runner for her kiss at this point, but what they didn't know, was that of the legitimate feelings that were present between the two.

"Don't move," he reminded her t which she responded, "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Okay!" He yelled over to the triplets who were inside of their robot. "Pino, Noki, Kio, show us what you got!"

"Okey dokey," and with that the machine's hands clutched the rope and began to pull with the help of the other six dwarfs. Merlin, Jack and Hans on one side, while Arthur on the other by himself. Cinderella laughed with delight as the frame raised around her, and she began to direct the men on their placement. "Yeah, a little to the left..little more...right there!"

Once the frame had been set firmly in place, they began the painting process with white and a shade of canary blue. While it took quite a bit of time, they satisfaction it brought them was worth it when they finished, looking on at their renovated home.

"Now that look like a real home," Cinderella commented. "Yeah, I could get used to that," said Merlin before Jack chimed in with, "No, I cannot."

Now that that was over with they set about the important mission of locating the king, starting with using the printer the triplets had developed to make mass copies of his wanted poster for distribution.

"It a perfect copy! That's incredible," the blonde looked on in wonder at the technology. Merlin then took control of the printing process, "Wow, this will definitely make it easier to find your king!"

"Unfortunately, this thing ain't flying," Noki patted the robots leg. "It's grounded," emphasized Kio. The blonde looked at them in confusion."Why do we need it to fly?"

"The posters are no good if we can't distribute them fast."

Her heart melted at their thoughtfulness. What did she do o deserve such friends? "You guys! Thank you so much for everything you've done," she brought the triplets into a group hug before grunting tore her gaze from them to Merlin who was trying to pry the magic broom from the trunk. A smile slowly grew on her face as she realized what he was thinking. It was utter genius!

After freeing the broom and making the suitable adjustments to the robot, Merlin and Cinderella were air born on the new machine. They had attached the broom to the back of the robot to give it flight, and currently the two were sitting on the broom soaring past the house. They had also installed a leaver so that when ready they could spin it and posters would fall to the ground out of a slot.

Cinderella was enjoying herself, the wind whipping in her face and through her hair gave her a feeling of freedom. The same could not be said for Merlin who had his eyes squinted shut and was hanging on to the broomstick for dear life. 

As they rounded the cliff to come across the house, she waved down to the others, some giving a halfhearted wave while Jack and Arthur were obviously envious of Merlin. The robot then bounded to the side, coming above a blue river. The nose came down to skim the water and the blonde stuck her hand out to feel the mist. When would she get the chance to do this again?

They then came up around a series of rocky cliffs and mountains before exiting the patch and flying above the the flower patch from two days ago with the King's likeness still written in the flowers. 

Noticing Merlin shaking like a leaf in front of her, Cinderella smiled to herself before scooting forward and wrapping her arms around his waist, his tension releasing as they ascended into the clouds. The girl stuck her arms out to the sides as she stared in wonder of the white expanse.

When they reached the castle of Prince Average, the pulled the leaver to release a wave of posters, the two turning to each other and laughing at the sight. Once they passed through Golden Goose Avenue, it had turned into a more leisurely ride.

Staring at the person in front of her however, Cinderella couldn't help but notice where they were. Alone in the clouds, pretty romantic if you asked her. So she decided to try and drop a few hints. "You know I meant what I said last night. I am so glad that I met you!"

"I feel the same way!" he cried out to her before standing up and spreading his arms. "I feel as if anything is possible."His mind yet again began to wander into a fantasy, this time he firmly imagined a scenario of a human him and Cinderella flying through the air together. They were both standing with him in front, arms raised to the sides, and her arms around his waist from behind. The human him turned to face and and just as the two went in for a kiss, a familiar feminine voice brought him out of this trance.

"Merlin! Watch out!" When his eyes refocused he let out a desperate scream as they collided into a patch of trees. The two were thrown from the robot and were hanging onto a branch for dear life before it snapped sending them both to the ground, knocking the wizard out.

"Merlin." a soft voice called out. "Merlin. Merlin!" This snapped him awake in a flash as he found himself clinging to Cinderella's arm. "Everything okay," she asked hesitantly. 

"Of course, sure," he quickly hopped off as they both sure. "Nothing to be embarrassed about so why are we even talking about that when we should be going...this direction." He pointed forward hoping it would lead somewhere as she ran to catch up.

About ten minutes later they were still walking down a trail by a river, and Cinderella realized now might be as good a time as any to explain her shoes to them. "So about these shoes.."

"What, are they still bothering you. What type of magic do those shoes have," he looked down before finally realizing what they were made of. "Wait are they...made of glass!"

She nervously chuckled before nodding her head. "Yep, and their honestly really comfortable. But as for what they do I'm really not sure. But I never told you how I got them."

"Well I'm all ears. Fire away."

"Here goes nothing." "Back when I was at the palace, Snow White and I had suspected her step-mother, Regina of being a witch. One night we went to investigate her office and we found a tree with red shoes growing on them. Snow picked them and right as Regina walked in, I grabbed the shoes from Snow and told her to run. I put them on for safekeeping and they turned into glass. After I escaped and you guys found me. Now she's probably after me for them."

"That's...a lot," he told her as they chuckled. "Do you think you could just give them back."

She shook her head. "Absolutely not. I still don't know what these shoes are capable of and the last thing I'd want is for them to turn out to be powerful and be in her clutches. Besides, I don't think forgiveness is a word in her vocabulary."

He simply nodded and continued to walk. Was that it. Did he really have so much faith in her that he could just accept it. Running forward to catch up with him, an idea came to mind. "Merlin, I'd like to give you a token of my appreciation. Could I maybe have one of your spells?"

"Why?" he asked with a humorous skepticism. "Oh come on, I'm not gonna zap you," She pleaded. Eventually he forked over a spell card, Cinderella taking it in her hands and walking over to a nearby log to work her magic. "Give me a sec."

Merlin followed her as she sat down, her hands twiddling with the card as he tried to peak. She looked at him knowing he was trying to look and he averted his eyes and whistled. Eventually she had finished, but not before placing a kiss on the token. She took his hand and placed the now folded heart in it. "There. Consider it your good luck charm."

Merlin picked up the little gift in his hand a admired it, along with the girl who had crafted it. "Thank you." However when she turned her head to look at the lake, he kissed the paper hoping a second hand kiss might count. 

Off in her own world however, a storm was brewing in Cinderella's mind. The thought of human Merlin invading her thoughts again, challenging her self worth. Would he still feel the same when he was normal. When he had the world at his fingertips and girls throwing themselves at him. He after all was...that's right. She had forgotten until now a very important detail in regards to the F7. The were all princes. Great, another thing working against her. As if him being hero didn't lower her chances, him being royalty smashed them to ground level. Sure he seemed like he returned her feelings now, she truly believed him there, but what was to stop him from turning the other direction in the future.

"Merlin," her voice called him back from is attempts to kiss the paper heart. "Do you think you'd be...happier if you were your old self again?"

"Yup," he responded simply. "Definitely, I would."

"Really? I kinda like how we are. Right here. Right now."

"Even if i'm," he then contorted his face and voice to mimic Prince Average. "an ugly green monster?"

She laughed at the act. "I don't care about your height, or what color you are. That's how you feel about me, right?"

"Of course," he replied instantly, without hesitation. This lifted Cinderella's spirits a little as she turned to face him. "Good, so do I." 

When their eyes connected however, something different was there from the thousand or so times they had before. More emotion, more care, more...love. Slowly, Cinderella began to lean down, her eyes slowly shutting. "This is it. I know I like him. Maybe a even...love him."

On the flip side, thanks to her absence of sight, Merlin had reverted to his human self, eyes wide at the girl before him. Was this real? Was it finally happening? What a good day to break a curse! He started to lean in as well, eyes shutting and repeating what she had thought just a moment ago. "This is it. I think...no, I know I love this girl."

However just as their lips were about to connect when suddenly a roar let out behind them. They jumped up and turned around to see a bark-like monster rampaging towards them. At this point Merlin was so fed up he couldn't take it any more. Not only would he have to take care of this guy, but their kiss had been interrupted and he was still a dwarf. So he did the only logical action; he screamed at the thing.

"You have got to be kidding me!"