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Princess Aurora led the three good fairies towards her home, paws holding tight to the handle of the basket that held Rose Red safely, as various thoughts filtered through her head. 'How in the world will I care for a clam?' 'A child should grow up with at least one parent!' 'What will Jack think?' The last one plagued her more than it should have. They were only friends. All right, so she had gotten careless and given him--there was no sense in bringing that up again. She nearly missed the turn as her head filled with her pirate friend--'What will my aunts think?' That concern nearly made her drop the basket. 'Oh dear.'

"Oh, it's splendid!" Flora cried out upon spying the place their Briar Rose had made home.

"Oh! It does look like the cottage!" Fauna's paws fluttered in excitement before clasping them together. She smiled happily, lazily rising into the air, already thinking how wonderful it was going to be. She would have another chance to raise an otter and--she sniffed, how she had missed Rose!

"It...it looks like a tree," Merryweather muttered, not unkindly, at the flightiness of her sisters. She shook her head and wandered forward to sit besides Aurora. "Is there going to be room, dear?" she asked, wondering if it was larger than the tree looked.

"Well, it suits me. I think it'll be all right," Aurora replied with a half-worried, half-optimistic smile.

The angelic otter led the three fairies to the entrance, setting the basket carefully down before crawling down into the den. Once inside, she turned to grasp the floating carrier--fairies had their uses after all--and checked to see that the clam was still safely tucked inside. She watched with amusement as her three surrogate aunts entered, their tiny feet often stepping on the trailing skirt of the dress in front of them.

The fairies straightened their dresses and hats before looking about the den quietly. There was indeed some resemblance to the Woodcutter's Cottage. The earthiness of it rather than the layout. And without communicating the three seemed to have reached an agreement.

"It's..." Fauna nervously fluctuated her paw as though to soothe any feathers that may become ruffle, "It's lovely, dear, but um," she made a small noise in the back of her throat.

"What Fauna means is that it's--" Flora paused, resting a paw on Fauna's to steady the wavering limb. "It's a little--"

"Small." Merryweather cut to the chase. She blinked as her sisters turned to glare at her, "What?" She rolled her eyes, round cheeks puffing out as she glared right back. "It is small."

Aurora stifled her laughter, barely, swooping down to separate the three by inserting herself beside her youngest aunt who loved blue. She opened her mouth to speak, hugging the three loosely, when she was interrupted.

"Aghhh!" the eldest fairy made a great big gasp, "It's blue!" She now noticed that Briar Rose's dress was not the wonderful flush pink she remembered.

"It's a very nice blue!" Merryweather interjected even as Flora raised her wand.

"I like it blue, Flora," Aurora stated, pulling herself back and busying herself with arranging her skirt. She felt a soft flush rise to her cheeks as she silently thought that Jack, too, liked it blue. She didn't think he would have any fondness at all for a pink dress--if he did it would be only because she was wearing it, being friends and all.

"Oh," she paused, "I'll make you another dress, dear. A pink one." As if that settled everything.

The princess gave her head a shake, moving to sit by the basket, as she left the fairies to discuss the smallness of her home.

"We can-" was all she heard, as the three squirrels huddled together and began planning in earnest. She briefly thought she was a child again, on that fateful day when she'd found them not up to something--she'd met a prince that day, become a princess. She shook the frown from her lips. Now was not the time to think of the past.

She nodded when they looked to her for permission and watched as sparks began to dance out of their wands. She had never really paid attention to it the one time she had seen it--so absored in the heartache--and found now that it was quite enchanting. The corner that had her bedding was cleared away, a wooden staircase appearing to lead into what she suspected was her new bedroom. From what she could see, it looked exactly as her room in the cottage had. Only a little way from her corner, another staircase grew leading into a new room that Flora explained would be for Rose Red when she was older ("Of course, for now, she'll stay with you in your room."). On the other side of the den, Merryweather worked to make one last staircase that led to a small hallway that branched off into three rooms for each of the fairies. The three fairies then placed a door to keep anything from coming in the back entrance though they allowed the front one to remain opened.

Aurora wasn't entirely sure what to make of the transformation. It was familiar and appreciated although it felt as though she'd lost a little of the independence she had gained. She supposed it was nothing to be upset over and paid it little attention. Instead she turned her attention back to the basket. She wondered sometimes what would have happened if someone had invited Maleficent to the christening or even to her sixteenth birthday party. She wondered if the little one's enemy could be placated. She was pulled from her thoughts by the soft touch of a paw against her wrist.

Fauna looked up at her with apparent worry. "Are you all right, dear? I know it must be overwhelming--"

"I'm fine, Fauna. I was only thinking that it would be nice if--" she tilted her head, before a thought occurred to her. She closed her eyes, lips turning up faintly, "It would be nice if we could paint a picture of the woods and the kingdom for Rose Red to grow up with. It wouldn't do for her not to know where she came from."

The fairies seemed to believe that, the three working their wings to fly into the bedroom that would belong to the child. She hefted the basket up and made her way into the room. Red, green, and blue sparks seemed to transform the dirt walls into a startling real looking image of the view of the castle from the window she'd had at Woodcutter's Cottage and the place where she'd met (and danced) with Phillip. It almost hurt, it seemed too real. She simply smiled. "It's perfect."

The three fairies smiled brightly, fluttering over to gather around their Briar Rose and Rose Red--twittering excitedly about all the things they could do. Aurora watched with a warm heart. It wasn't ideal and it wouldn't be perfect, but she thought the otter could grow up happy and very loved. And perhaps that was enough.