Game of Cards Bingo Entries

[katleept]

Title: When Hearts Are Green
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Character/Pairing: Splinter, tot!Mikey
Rating: G/K
Challenge: This is for a gameofcards land comm bingo challenge. If you join, be sure to let them know Kat Lee of Team Hearts sent YOU!
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 335
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.



"Michelangelo," Splinter asks early one Valentine's Day morning, "what is this?" His tail twitches as he lifts the drawing carefully with one claw.

Mikey looks as innocent as he ever manages to do. "Don't you know what a valentine is, Sensei?" he asks. "I saw it on the big, talking box."

Splinter's tail twitches again. "I have warned you about the nonsense played on that television. Its programs are mind washing gibberish."

"Not this one, Sensei. Valentines are real, and I love you, so I thought -- "

The old rat sighs, his shoulders sinking lower in his thin robe as he accepts the inevitable. "So you made me one. I do appreciate the thought, Michelangelo, but . . . Why is it green?"

"Well, duh," Mikey answers, grinning. "We're green, so don'tcha think our hearts would be green?"

"Michelangelo," Splinter begins, laying the paper down before him, but then he catches sight of the youngest turtle for whom he cares so greatly and pauses. Mikey's bottom lip is sticking out and beginning to quiver while tears fill his dark eyes. A reassuring smile suddenly lights Splinter's face. "You have an astounding imagination, my son." The Science lecture, he decides, can wait for another day, one not quite as important as this one obviously has become to the most innocent member of their clan.

"You like it, Sensei?" Mikey jumps in joy. "You really like it?"

"I . . . " His tail now hides underneath the hem of his purple robe as it twitches. "I would like anything you make for me, my son."

He is surprised at how swiftly Michelangelo moves, at how high he jumps, and most especially at how fast his tiny arms go around his neck. Hesitantly, he lays a hand over his shell and rubs the little turtle there. "Happy Valentine's Day, Sensei!" Mikey cries, squeezing him with all his might.

Splinter's smile is true and happens without any hesitation this time. He continues to rub Mikey's shell while returning his hug. "Happy Valentine's Day, Michelangelo."

The End




Title: Their King Forever
Author: Kat Lee
Fandom: Disney
Character/Pairing: Mickey, Minnie, Walt, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Cinderella, Daisy, the Blue Fairy, and a whole MESS LOAD of others!
Rating: PG-13/T
Challenge: This is for a gameofcards land comm bingo challenge. If you join, be sure to let them know Kat Lee of Team Hearts sent YOU!
Warning(s): Dark!fic
Word Count: 1,727
Summary:
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to Disney and any other rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission. Walt Disney belongs to himself and is again used without permission.


He's tired of wearing this mask. He's had to wear it for so long now. He drifts through his city as he so often does. It's late at night, so for a change, he isn't surrounded by laughing, giggling, and even screaming children. He's alone tonight, but he still can't be himself.

He drifts through the park like a ghost, stopping here and there and listening to chatter and laughter. The others are so happy now. He's succeeded at that, at least. Lovers have been reunited; friends and family are together. No one who should be together is apart. No one is unhappy except for him. He's completed their happy endings. He's given what they need and what they want. Even the Faeries are called upon very little these days, or if they are, they're managing to handle whatever requests with which they are faced without having to bother him.

They don't need him, Mickey thinks, and his ears and tail droop a little lower. Once upon a time, he could not have walked through these worlds, his parks, without being stopped not by visitors or by the people and animals who live here. They all needed him. Everywhere he looked, there is some one else with a problem, or somebody who wasn't whole because they'd had to leave some one they loved behind.

But now they're happy, their lives and stories fulfilled. He's happy for them -- he truly is --, but at times, it makes him feel all that much more lonely. The magic drifts through the park, but he no longer feels it. It will stay here much longer than he. It will still be here to give them what they need, to fulfill their dreams and wishes, to keep them happy. They don't need him any longer.

He turns to the darker part of the park. The most dangerous rides are here. Ghosts scream through the empty buildings. Where the visitors challenged each other to face the dangers they gave them in the daylight and earlier tonight, now beings who the general populace thinks are only fictional characters line up to face the same terrors and challenge each other.

The tip of Mickey's tail twitches; his gloved hands push further down into the pockets of his black trousers. At one time, they wouldn't have wasted time on these rides. They certainly weren't what they had in mind when he and Walt first started building these worlds. They wanted to create a place where every one could come to be happy, where every dream could be made a reality, where nothing was impossible.

He scoffs and kicks a pebble. He hears a tiny voice fuss at him, sees a teeny fist raise in retribution out of the corner of his eye. "Sorry," he mumbles. That was another thing he'd never thought possible. He was once beloved throughout these parks and all the lands around them. No one would have dared to take an attitude with him.

But that mouse certainly hadn't hesitated in calling him names. He might have deserved it -- the pebble had almost hit the poor animal --, but at one time, no one would have fussed at him for anything. He was a beloved, childhood hero, but it seems no more. Perhaps Cinderella is right in her concern that the Frozen sisters are taking over her kingdom, he thinks. Perhaps they have lost favor with the children.

But then, the Queen hasn't even turned to him for advice. He's heard of her concerns from her birds, from other mice, from Minnie, from other characters even, but she hasn't spoken a word to him herself in over a month. He knows she's busy, but still, if she truly had a concern, she should've came to him.

They all should come to him, but they never do any more. He's not needed, he thinks and walks into an elevator alone. He pushes a button. Machinery and recordings screech; ghosts scream elsewhere throughout the building. He's not afraid. There's nothing in any of the worlds here, or beyond, that can scare him for there's nothing scarier than reality.

Walt is gone. He should've followed him long ago, and perhaps he would have except that his best friend had convinced him that he would always be needed here. He had been needed, too, for a long time, but he's no longer needed. No one brings him problems, and Cinderella is right: Even he sometimes gets passed up by children in favor of the Frozen sisters, Buzz Lightyear, or most of the newer characters. He's no longer popular.

The elevator stops. He walks out into the darkness alone. He can not see the nose in front of his face, but that doesn't matter. So many things he once thought were impossible no longer are. Walt is gone. His worlds are changing and aren't always his to control any longer. Things would be a lot different if they were, after all. He's no longer wanted. He's no longer needed. He's no longer loved.

Barking rips the air suddenly. "MICKEY, STOP!"

He spins around and blinks, trying to see in the dark. "Minnie?"

Lights suddenly flare to life. The Fairies have come. Even the Blue Fairy is here, but they're not alone. And they are all looking at him kindly. "Oh, Mickey," the Blue Fairy croons to him, and he colors all the way up through his big, black ears.

Pluto breaks free of the leash to which Minnie was actually holding. He bolts over the top of the tower until he reaches Mickey's side. Then he throws himself up into his arms and starts licking his face like he'd never thought he'd see him again. He tastes the salt of his tears and licks harder.

Donald starts cussing, and as usual, Mickey can understand very little of what the angry, swiftly shouting duck is saying. He does, however, get the gist of it before Cinderella questions, "Mickey, did you really think we wouldn't know?"

"We should've said something sooner," adds Daisy. She places a tender hand on Donald's arm, but the furious duck shoves it off.

"Don't you know we love you, Mickey?" A murmur of agreement passes through the gathered crowd, and suddenly, Mickey feels again like he used to back when his world was so much bigger than he'd ever thought it would be. It's grown much larger since, but he's become accustomed to it. Sometimes, like today, he just feels like a small dot on a huge planet instead of the King of his own world, a hero to his people.

"I'm sorry we didn't say something sooner," Minnie speaks, agreeing with Daisy's earlier assessment.

"We didn't know what to say," Goofy admits, slowly starting to inch forward. His hands nervously twist his cap. "I know you're hurting, Mickey, and I know we're not Walt. I know we're not as good as he was. I know we can't be as important to you as you are to us, but, gawsh, Mickey, you're the most important one to me, to Donald, to Minnie -- "

Pluto barks. So do several other dogs. Cats meow, birds chirp, monkeys screech, and a myriad of other animals all call to him. "You are important to us all," Snow White tells him.

"You're our King," a little kid whom he barely recognizes comes forward to add.

"You started it all."

"We wouldn't be here if not for you."

"We'd still be trapped on the other side, in the land of imagination."

"I wouldn't be a real boy."

"I wouldn't have a son."

"We wouldn't have a home."

A million other voices add to theirs, each speaking of another reason why they owe endless debt to him, each telling him how important he is to them and how he has made their world so much better than it would be otherwise. Donald finally stops screaming. He looks at him over the distance separating them and speaks completely clearly for the first time, "We need you more than we ever needed Walt."

"We love you, Mickey," croons Minnie.

Finally reaching him, Goofy throws his arms around both Mickey and Pluto. "We don't know what we'd do without you, and gawsh, we don't wanna find out." He hugs him tightly, and it is then, as Pluto holds him that Mickey becomes aware of more characters coming to them. The Jolly Roger flies up directly behind him, cutting off the path over the side of the Tower of Terror. Buzz, the Genie, Peter Pan, Aladdin, Jasmine, their Magic Carpet, dragons, ghosts, and at least a dozen others fly around them. He would've fallen thirteen stories; they won't let him fall one.

He's suddenly aware of the fact that every single character in his kingdoms are coming. They're all coming to him, and they're not coming just for their own desires. They're all coming for him.

"We love you, Mickey."

"We love you, Mickey."

"We love you."

He starts to cry, and suddenly, they're all on him. Goofy, Minnie, Daisy, and even Donald are hugging him tightly. Dozens upon dozens of hands are touching him where they can, just trying to get a little bit of them on him, trying to let him know they care. They really care. They really love him. He sobs quietly, and finally, he lets go. He lets it all go. He will always miss Walt, but he does have a reason to stay.

He has a million, perhaps more. Every one in his kingdoms is another reason for him to stay, another being who cares about him, not just for what he can do for them but for what he already has done for them. They all care for him. They all love him. Finally, a smile breaks through his tears. They raise him into the air, on their hands and on their heads far above them.

"Hip, hip, hooray!"

"Hip, hip, hooray!"

Then they start the Mickey Mouse chant. For the first time, Donald fuss about it but joins in spelling his name. He laughs, his tail swishing, for it's for the first time in decades that that old, silly song has brought a smile to him. He laughs. He loves, and finally, he feels not just loved again but fulfilled again as they all lift him up: their friend, their hero, their King forever.

The End




Title: Go With You
Author: Kat Lee
Dedicated To: My beloved Drew -- I love you, my darling!!!!!!!! May we be as lucky as these two!!
Fandom: Original
Character/Pairing: She/She
Rating: PG-13/T
Challenge: This is for a gameofcards land comm bingo challenge. If you join, be sure to let them know Kat Lee of Team Hearts sent YOU!
Warning(s): Character Deaths, Dark!fic
Word Count: 328
Summary:
Disclaimer: This one belongs all to me.



The sun is setting. The bombs will start soon. She holds out her hand, palm and fingers up; her soul mate takes it and entwines her fingers with hers.

"I wish I could take you out of this."

"I don't."

"I thought of so many ways, but none of them are possible." She gazes into her face, trying even now to frame every inch of her into her mind forever.

She slides closer and presses her lips to hers. Her tongue sweeps into her mouth, tenderly plundering, sweetly stroking, and heatedly rubbing against hers. Finally, she raises her head, but she still gazes deeply into her eyes. "I don't," she whispers earnestly. "At least this way, we go together. I don't want to live without you."

"Nor I you."

"Let's think of something better. Remember that day we spent in the water?"

"All day, splashing and having fun and -- "

"Yeah." She smiles and kisses her again, this time pausing to nibble her lips. She wants to remember this moment forever, however long or short that time may be.

"What was your favorite day?" she asks when they pause again, their lips plump, full, and already beginning to swell from the passion of their kisses.

"Every day with you."

"You don't have a favorite?"

She wraps her other hand around the side of her face, tangles her fingers with her hair, and presses her forehead to hers. She gazes into her eyes for a long moment, then says simply and with all her heart, "You are the highlight of my life."

Tears sparkle in her eyes. Movement in the sky catches their attention. They turn together, in their porch swing where once they had thought they would always be safe, and watch the lights exploding in the evening sky. If they didn't know better, they might think it was fireworks, but fireworks have never been as bright, powerful, or utterly decimating.

They cling to each other. "Kiss me," she whispers with urgency. They do.

The End