The Politics of Kissing

The air was rent by the roaring of Dragon. Shrek squinted up through the dark midnight sky, able to make out the spindly red wings of his friend's mate against the bright white moon.

A furry speck appeared on Dragon's neck; he didn't quite believe his sight as the speck began to move up the Dragon's neck. Then his mouth dropped open as he realized what it was.

"Rose Mittens!" Shouted the feline who was, most obviously, Carmen, "Pray for Mercy from Carmen Maria of Espenolla!"

"Mami! Come down from there! You'll catch a cold!"

"Puss! This is no one's affair but my own!"

"Mami!"

Shrek let out a piercing whistle, which brought everyone in the room to an abrupt silence.

"EVERYBODY! SUT UP!"

Several pairs of annoyed eyes turned to Shrek, who spread his fingers out and said loudly.

"Okay! You, let go of the wife, now!"

Shylock sniffed. "What is it about the words 'legally-binding contract' that you dolts don't understand?"

"Oh? Here's a few words that you'll understand: royal guard. Your rear end." In an extra-menacing tone, he finished. "Jail cell."

"Understood!" Shylock piped, a bit too cheerfully. "The agreementisbrokengoodday." He found his now-crushed hat on the floor, shoving it down hard on his head before rushing out the front door, to the roaring cry of Dragon.

"Carmen, there ain't no Rose Mittens in this place."

"That is impossible, Senor! I have made a promise to Ms. Dragon to find the woman."

"Rose is Ginger's mother, but I don't know what ye're gonna be able to get outta..." Shrek looked around himself. "Anyone seen Ginger?"

Puss had. He knelt at the female cat's side, his eyes liquid and his hat clutched to his chest.

"Is she...has she gone with the angels?" Shrek asked, recalling his mother's words in times of death...there had been many in his childhood. He could almost feel the specter of it breathing down his neck now.

"No." Puss said. Shrek had never heard him use such a tone. "But she is dying, Senor. We must summon help."


***

The flight to Far, Far Away seemed to take less time than it had before. Shrek's arm was a band around Fiona's waist, but she did not protest. Their attention was foccused almost solely on the gasping cat in Puss' arms.

Carmen studied the feminine feline quietly. "She is so thin." She said judiciously. "She had not eaten for a long time."

"I saw her, Mami. She had a drink today..." But he could not recall seeing her eat. Then he remembered the broth she had made for him...and had never drank herself. "Dios." He muttered to himself.

Carmen's gaze was welded to the face of her son. She knew well that look. A tentative smile formed upon her lips. "Come. We will hope for the best."

When Dragon landed in the forecourt of the castle...crushing two carriages flat in her wake...Fiona leapt out of her seat and immediately began to chatter to the guards. Shrek held his breath as they waited...he exhaled it in a puff when the drawbridge came down.

**

Shrek stirred the thickening stew with a shiny silver spoon. He found himself, strangely, unable to eat, and laid the spoon beside his bowl. A quick glance around the room told him that Carmen, Puss, and even Fiona were in a similar state. The only person eating with enthusiasm was King Harold.

Shrek smiled wanly at his father-in-law, who obliviously gobbled down a bowl of dead flies, his rubbery limbs gleefully shoveling them into his mouth.

"I say, excellent." He smiled, finishing the meal. "Would anyone care for desert?"

"No, Father." Fiona said stiffly. "We're all fine."

"Aye." Said Puss softly.

"Si." Muttered Carmen.

Harold's eyes grew misty as he looked from face to face. "There there. I'm sure your friend will be all right. We have the very best doctor in the kingdom checking on her."

Fiona pushed herself away from the table. "Excuse me." She managed in a small voice, before rushing out of the room.

Shrek followed her, engaging in a short search before noticing Fiona alone, sitting by a stained-glass window, perfectly silent.

"Don't feel bad, Fi. I'm sure Ginger's gonna be okay."

Fiona spoke without his question. "It's all my fault. If I hadn't been fooled by Shylock, Ginger wouldn't be dying."

"And Ginger chose for herself; ye didn't make her keep company in Dunloc. Ye didn't make her scrape and fight in the streets for her money. If anyone's takin' the blame, it's her ma for turnin' her out." He gently spun her around. "But ye weren't fooled." Shrek said. "Ye stood strong, Fi. And I'm proud to be yer husband."

A giggle escaped her lips, despite the tears welling in her eyes. "I'm proud to be your wife." Then her expression darkened. "The wife of a stubborn ogre, none the less."

Shrek's lips turned downward. Fiona had a mind like a steel trap, strengthened by years of isolation and imagination. "What are ye thinking of, Fi?"

She reached up and cupped his cheek. "What happened to your mother, Shrek?"

He stiffened, as though she had hit him. How had she known, when he had tried to avoid it for so many years?

"She died." The words came gruffly. "Me Pa left when I was young, so there was no one but me and Ma. She couldn't stand livin' out in the forrest; it was too rough. She was raised in the city...she worked in a travellin' circus. Saw the world before she had me."

Shrek cleared his throat, continuing his story. "She thought people were good and kind, cause a' that. One day, she came to me and said 'we have enough now, Shrek, m'boy. We're gonna move into a fine town house.'" He rubbed his eyes. "She put on her best hat, and we went into town."

He couldn't continue. He couldn't say the words.

"And they killed your mother. Because she was an ogre. That's why you live in a swamp, and why you're too used to being chased with pitchforks. Why you're not afraid of anything, even other human beings, because the worst has already happened."

He stared into her eyes with a direct intensity that confirmed every word. "Not the worst. The worst'd be losing you."

He kissed the crown of her head. Some part of him felt lightened, unburdened, by what he had let go.

"Don't hide from me, Fi." He begged her. "I ain't gonna hide from you any more."

"Good." She smiled.

For a long moment, the twosome huddled together, undisturbed, in their alcove. Only the echoing sound of footsteps in an empty hall drew them away.

They met the soft, saddened groans of their friends, still sitting in the main hall. The exiting doctor bumped directly into Shrek's stomach.

"How is Ginger?" He asked.

The doctor lowered his gaze. "Her lungs are deteriorating, the cold and the wet of Dunloc having made her condition worse. I'm afraid it would take a miracle now."

***

The hours passed with speed from that moment on. Shrek and Fiona sat together, with Carmen asleep at their feet. Puss had made his way to Ginger's room, and would not leave her alone.

In the middle of the night, the gate crashed open. "Where's my daughter?! I have to see my daughter!"

The pink-tinted fur and cheap fur instantly branded the woman as Rose Mittens.

No one could stop the cat from scampering upstairs to the guest bedroom. Shouted, muffled words were exchanged between she and Puss; then, dramatically, the room was silent.

And the air was filled once more with the beating wings of Dragon.

***

"Open up."

"Madame Rita is having lunch!" Came a voice from within the tree.

"I'll break down the door!"

A shuffling, and the door opened. Suddenly, a behorned, befanged, green-tinted being stood, six-feet tall and with blue flames at it's feet.

"WHO DARES TO DISTURB ME!?"

"I do!"

Suddenly, the flames died. "Puss of Espenolla?"

"Si." He said. "Now, witch, we shall make a bargain." He shoved Ross in the direction of the ragged figure. "This is the cat you have sought. I wish for you to change this enchantment to assist my friend."

She narrowed her eyes at Rose. "You owe me dearly, Mittens."

"I don't care what it takes. Please, heal my daughter."

Rita sniffed, taking back the amethyst stone she'd given Dragon hours before. "And the Dragon? She agrees to give up her chance at a voice?"

Dragon nodded her head.

Rita thought for a moment. "I have a harvest of pumpkins coming in before the snows arrive. If Rose promises to bring them in for me, I will change the enchantment."

For Rose, this was a matter of swallowed pride. But she lowered her head and nodded.

"Very well." She took the enchantment inside of the house. For a long moment, only the rasping sound of Ginger's breathing filled the air. Then bursts of color and light glowed within the tree, brighter and brighter, until Rita emerged in a mist of white.

"Hold the enchantment to the north wind as the sun begins too come up." She instructed Puss. "Your love will be healed."

"I did not..."

"Go to the east." She said wisely. And Puss decided not to waste time wondering about the motivations of such a woman.

***

As the darkness of night thinned to bright blue, Puss listened to the winds. He had left Rose, the kidnapped Rose, back with Rita, before finding an appropriate hill. And when the sun rose, and the wind strengthened, he held the amethyst stone to the wind.

He saw Ginger's fun glow, eerily, as she rose toward the light. The heat and light dissipated, and Puss nearly tumbled from the back of a sleeping Dragon. She fell back, into his arms, and he felt the heat abating from her body.

With one clear cough, she opened her eyes. A wan smile formed upon her lips.

"Is it morning?"


***


Epilouge
four months later

****

Winter brought its clean, cool coating to the kingdom of Dunloc, reminding Shrek that the season meant nothing but shovels.

And snowballs, one of which smashed into his face. A rapid succession of them knocked him backward into the snow. Rubbing the chill ice from his eyes, he realized quickly that the merry laughter belonged to voices familiar.

"FIREFLY!"

Giggling filled the air, and Shrek shook his head.

"Chase, Uncle Shrek!" She said, shaking snow from her tail.

"Firefly, don't be pesterin' your Uncle Shrek!" Donkey scolded. He and Dragon were eating freshly-toasted marshmallows and watching Firefly's siblings prance around on the icy surface that had formed over the swampwater.

"It's okay, Donkey." Shrek watched Dragon and Donkey as they stood, snug together, on the shore. They understood that they had nearly lost their special relationship when Dragon had gone to gain her voice. It had taken a lot of reassurance from Donkey for Dragon to believe that he didn't mind her lifelong silence. It had, in the end, strengthened her love for him, at least to the eye of someone on the outside.

"Did you get the mail?"

Shrek turned to see Fiona in the kitchen window, sitting a pie on the ledge.

"Yah." He waved a thick pile of letters in the air and began to trudge his way back from the half-shoveled walk to the doorstep. Fiona met him with a kiss.

"What do we have?"

The first letter was from her mother, typically. The second was a fancy, engraved envelope, from the Kingdom of Ella. And the rest, naturally, were for Fiona.

"The advice business is doin' good." He placed the letters on their kitchen table. No jealousy showed in Shrek's tone, to Fiona's pleasure.

In truth, he was proud of Fiona for figuring out how to help others without endangering herself. Syndication in a free scroll distributed kingdom-wide; her advice was now available to anyone who could read, and for those who couldn't read, she appeared at regular talks in the Barnes and Nobility of Far Far Away.

"I guess my matchmaking works after all." Fiona noted, amusement in her voice. "Farquaad and Cinderella are getting married."

"Doesn't that mean Farquaad is going to be a Prince after all?"

"Well, yes. But not a king."

Shrek roared in laughter at fate.

"And look what was hiding at the bottom of the pile!"

Shrek smiled when a small enveloped unfolded, an intricately painted cameo tumbling out of the letter.

"Dear Senor and Senorita:

All is well in Duloc. Ginger and I have found a small apartment within the kingdom's walls, which suits us both well.

You asked how we are doing for pesos. You will be pleased to know that my Ginger is singing again. We found her sister, Cinnamon, who had run away from her mother before she reached Dunloc. They are working as a duo in the Gilded Cage nightclub. Ginger does not cough as she once did, and is most sweet and kind. As for myself, I have posted a notice in the town square that I will take all problems, big and small, and make them invisible. You see that this is my calling, no? I mention the "bring girlfriend back to life" part of things, and all is well.

Mami sends her love. Since Old Madame Rita passed away, she has done wonders with the little house. In her dying days, she taught my mother the art of natural magic. She seems to have a natural talent for this fortune telling and natural charms business, and the clean country air does her constitution well. She is the Mami I loved long ago. She and Rose make an interesting pair, no? Ginger is pleased, for it keeps Rose away from the theatre, and

Commend me to Our King And Queen. I remain forever indebted in your hands.

Puss.

P.S: Enclosed is a trinket. You are welcome to use it when you pass through Duloc next.


Fiona squinted at the charm. She recognized what it was and her face split into a wide grin.

"You remembered my birthday!"

Shrek wrapped his arms around Fiona, his sigh of relief as subtle as the painted orange petals and light brown center, which almost resembled a country scape in painted miniature.

Was it not clearly, to two so in love, a painstakingly rendered sunflower blossom.



The End