Apologies and Forgiveness

     But, of course, this was just her enchanted window, which she had cast a spell on to make everything outside seem like utter chaos, just the way she liked it. She set down her purple teacup and smacked her lips together.

     Then there was a knock on her door. Another Neopet asking for a quest. Great.

     Why can't they just leave me alone and let me have just one moment of peace? Jhudora thought to herself moodily. She got up from her chair and walked over to her door.

     "Go away!" she shouted at the door as the knocks got louder and faster. "Can't you see I'm trying to relax?"

     "No," a small, cutesy voice said on the other side of the door. "The door's closed."

     Another baby Neopet, Jhudora thought. I can't stand them. They think they're all cutesy and innocent. Well, I'll show him cutesy and innocent!

     She slammed open the door, pointed her finger at him, and out shot an icy, purple beam at his chest. The baby Kougra looked surprised. A blue shade had covered most of his body, and then he fell backwards on her doorstep, completely frozen in a dark purple ice.

     "Ha," Jhudora said out loud. "That's what you get for being annoying."

     She shut her door, leaving the Kougra on her cloud, frozen.

     After five minutes, another Quest-seeker was knocking at the door.

     "Go away!" screamed Jhudora. "This is my day off! No Questers at my doorstep!"

     "Jhudora!" a familiar voice called. "Open up, this instant!"

     "Who is that?" Jhudora demanded loudly through the door.

     "None of your business," another familiar voice said. "Well, at least for now." Then the voice got sweeter. "There, there, little Kougra. I'll defrost you soon." After a few seconds, there was a "Meow!" and the Kougra was free from the block of ice it was imprisoned in a few minutes ago.

     "You had no authority defrosting my property!" Jhudora raged through the door. She went to open it, but when she did, everything turned black, and she was knocked out cold.

     When she woke up, she was in a metal, rusty cage. It smelled like moldy cheese.

     "What is this madness?" She jumped up and shot a misty purple haze onto the bars of the old cage.

     "This cage is unbreakable," a stern voice said behind her, on the outside of the barred cell. "You shouldn't even try to break it."

     Jhudora spun around, and came face-to-face with Fyora, the Faerie Queen.

     "My, my," Jhudora said, in a whispery tone. "What a pleasant... may I say... surprise, Your Majesty?"

     "You have no right to freeze innocent Neopets when they disturb you on your day off," Fyora said, ignoring Jhudora's last remark.

     "I do, too," Jhudora snarled. "You'd be annoyed if you were disturbed on your day off."

     "But I wouldn't freeze the poor thing. Now you'll stay here until you can apologize."

     "To whom, may I ask?" Jhudora hissed, grabbing the bars of the cage firmly.

     "The baby Kougra." And a green, cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows. She unhooded herself when she was in clear view of Jhudora.

     "Illusen?" Jhudora whispered. "Long time no see, my sister..."

     Illusen ignored her. She snapped her fingers, and a nervous baby Kougra appeared in the cell with Jhudora. The same baby Kougra that she had frozen earlier that day.

     Jhudora turned around. "Hello, my dear friend," she said coldly to the Kougra. The Kougra took a step back. Jhudora didn't seem to notice. "Have you come here to... ah, join the party?"

     "I-I... Y-you need to apologize to me," the Kougra said weakly.

     "Do I, now?" Jhudora inquired, amused.

     "Jhudora, you broke the law, and now you can fix it instead of getting your wings taken off!" Fyora said firmly. "Isn't apologizing a much easier way?"

     "I won't," Jhudora said stubbornly. "It's his fault, anyway."

     "No," Illusen piped up.

     "Yes," Jhudora said fiercely.

     "No."

     "Yes."

     "No."

     "Yes."

     "No-"

     "Enough!" Fyora said loudly. Illusen and Jhudora both crossed their arms defiantly.

     "Fine. I'll apologize," Jhudora said stiffly. "I'm sorry, scum bag." The Kougra looked at her disbelievingly.

     "It's not that hard to mean it, too," the Kougra said bravely. "Wait, did you just call me scum bag?"

     "Wait a second here, scum bag... I have to mean it?" Jhudora winced. "Never."

     "Then I'll go and get the Wing Remover," Fyora said, a small smile crossing her face.

     Jhudora tossed her dark, purple hair over her shoulder.

     "Fine." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for freezing you, er... what's your name?"

     "Leonal," the Kougra said proudly.

     "What kind of dumb name is that?" Jhudora asked, giving off a cruel, harsh laugh.

     Leonal looked at Jhudora in dislike. "I really don't like you."

     "Good," Jhudora said. "Now... I'm sorry, Leonal, for freezing you, even though you deserved it."

     "Jhudora!" Fyora said warningly.

     Jhudora sighed. "It's so much easier in the comics and on Neovision," she complained.

     "Do it," Fyora commanded. "Now."

     "I can't wait to see this," Illusen said, conjuring up some popcorn. "I'll remember this moment forever." She shoved a fistful of popcorn in her mouth.

     "Shut your mouth," Jhudora snarled threateningly.

     "What're you going to do about it?" Illusen taunted.

     "After this dreadful moment, you'll experience a world full of pain," Jhudora said promisingly.

     "You don't mean that, sis," Illusen said playfully. "Wait, do you?"

     Jhudora sighed. She turned to Leonal. "Okay," she whispered to herself. "I can do this so I can get out of this rat hole and back home to have another cup of tea."

     "Leonal..." she started, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry for freezing you. I was just annoyed at you for knocking on my door for the one stinking day I'm off."

     "I forgive you." Leonal nodded.

     "Well...?" Illusen said. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

     "What?" Jhudora said moodily. "No more..."

     "There's one more thing you need to do," Fyora said. Then Illusen blurted out,

     "You need to hug each other!"

     Jhudora looked like she was going to vomit.

     "No way," she said, a pale green tinge coming across her usually purple face. "No hugging."

     Leonal looked just as disgusted. "Not with her," he pleaded. "Anyone but her."

     "Trust me," Jhudora sighed. "This is going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you."

     "No," Leonal said. "Other way around."

     "Well," Jhudora said. "At least we both won't like it; that helps, right?"

     Illusen laughed. She ate the last of her popcorn.

     "This is so funny," she snorted.

     "You stay out of it!" Jhudora said furiously.

     "You both won't get out of there unless you hug and forgive each other," Fyora said expectantly.

     "F-fine..." Jhudora bent down.

     "After this, we can go home and have some tea or whatever," Jhudora whispered to Leonal. "After all, isn't that what forgiving and forgetting is?"

     Leonal nodded. Then, reluctantly, they both grasped each other's waists, pulled close, and drew away.

     "That wasn't any fun," Illusen pouted. "Oh, well. Did that count, Fyora?" she inquired.

     "I guess," Fyora sighed. "Good job, Leonal and Jhudora." The bars of the cage slowly dissolved into thin air. Illusen snapped her fingers together, and Leonal was gone.

     "You'll hold this over my head for the rest of my life, won't you, Illusen?" Jhudora sighed.

     "Yup," Illusen said cheerfully. "Now, let's all go home."

     There was a blinding flash of white light, and Jhudora was back home at her kitchen table, sipping tea and looking out of her enchanted window.

     "Wait..." she said to herself with dread. "Didn't I already do this today?"

     And then there was a knock on her door.

The End