Second Chances (Part 3:Trust)

[perrysburggirl.livejournal.com]

Title: Second Chances (Part 3: Trust)
Note: I do not own “Once Upon A Time”. I am just a fan who loves happy endings and wants to write.
Setting: Fairy Tale Land
Rating: PG (The rating will fluctuate between chapters)
Warnings: Strong language
Genre: Drama
Word Count: 1971
Cast: Anastasia, Lady Tremaine, Drizella, Lord Jeremy Trenton, Lord Carlton Trenton, mentions of Snow White, Prince Thomas, Ella, and Red
Summary: Trusting someone is sometimes harder than you think




Anastasia jumped when she saw her mother in the chair. She had thought she wouldn't have to deal with her until morning, but obviously that wasn't the case. She was not going to let her mother destroy her wonderful night. She stood up to her one time today, why couldn't she do it again.

Anastasia took a deep breath. “I didn't make it in time for the wedding, but the reception was beautiful.”

Lady Tremaine stood up knocking Lucifer to the ground. She didn't say a word at first but just folded her arms across her chest and paced back and forth. Anastasia could tell her mom was like a ticking time bomb ready to go off. It was just a matter of time before the screaming would start.

Lady Tremaine finally came to a standstill in front of a bookshelf. She picked up one of the books from the shelf and began to look through it. As she did so she said, “So was Cinderella happy. Was she covered in jewels? Did she swap stories with the other Princesses in the land?”

Anastasia thought carefully before she spoke. Her mom's voice was so calm as she talked. Maybe her mom was not mad at Cinderella anymore. Maybe she was just curious about everything that had happened. Anastasia wished she could read her mother's mind to figure out where she was going with this. She would just answer her truthfully. The truth is the right thing to do after all.

“She is happy, mother. As for jewels, Ella doesn't like a lot of jewelry. She wore her wedding ring and necklace from her friend Snow White and some earrings from her friend Red,” said Anastasia still trying to figure her mother out.

Lady Tremaine looked up from her book. “So she is friends with Snow White now. Why am I not surprised? Two little brats in places where they do not belong,” she said as she threw the book at the wall. The book bounced off the wall and hit a vase of flowers sending the flowers and vase to the floor in a loud crash. Her mother was never going to change her feelings towards her sister. She was always going to hate her and be jealous of her.

Lady Tremaine picked up another book as she turned to Anastasia again. “So tell me, are you best friends now? Did she forgive you for everything?”

Anastasia was not going to let her mother take this out on her. Not after the night she just had. She needed to stand up for herself now and damn the consequences.

“Mother Ella did forgive me. Yes we talked and had a good time tonight. I am going to the palace tomorrow night for tea with or without your permission or blessing. I had a wonderful time tonight meeting new people and dancing and being with my sister and I am not going to let you ruin this night for me.”


Lady Tremaine did not throw the book but looked up at Anastasia. She raised her right eyebrow and gave Anastasia a curious look. “You were dancing? Please tell me you weren't dancing by yourself again. The last time was humiliating and rather sad.”

Anastasia clenched her fists as she stared back at her mother. Her mother was making fun of her now. Yes she did dance alone at a ball a few months ago, but that was because she had too much to drink and no one would dance with her and she wanted to have fun. She knew what she was doing. Drizella made fun of her the following day for it and her mother said she was a disgrace because girls dance with boys and not alone.

“For your information I was dancing with Lord Jeremy Trenton. We danced half the night together and he even asked to call on me soon,” said Anastasia putting her hands on her hips.

Lady Tremaine lowered her book she was going to throw. “Who did you say?”

Anastasia paused for a moment before saying his name again. “Lord Jeremy Trenton. Lord Carlton Trenton's son.”

Lady Tremaine set the book down. She stood looking at the bookshelf for a minute before turning to Anastasia. “Anastasia, that's wonderful. You did say yes he could call on you, right.”

Anastasia looked at her mother in shock. Her mother's voice was calm and sweet and she was actually smiling at her. Anastasia hadn't seen her mother so happy in ages.

“Of course I said he could call on me. I really like him,” she said beaming at her mother.

Lady Tremaine walked over to her daughter and hugged her. “I guess going to the palace tonight was a good idea after all. We must go into town tomorrow and buy you some new dresses and shoes. You must look your best. Look at the time!! It's so late. Off to bed with you. You need your beauty sleep.”

Anastasia hugged her mother back and smiled at her the best she could. She was still in shock from the change of events. Maybe her mother could change. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all. Anastasia kissed her mom on the cheek and got into bed.

“We will talk in the morning my dear. Goodnight, Anastasia,” said Lady Tremaine as she walked out of the room. Anastasia laid down and closed her eyes. She smiled as she drifted off to sleep. Everything was going wonderfully. Ella was talking to her, Jeremy seemed interested in her, and now her mother was going to buy her new clothes and seemed happy. Her life was surely changing for the better.


Lady Tremaine made her way down the hall to her room. Before she got to her room though, Drizella's door flew open. “What is all the ruckus? It is the middle of the night and I need my beauty sleep, “ said Drizella rubbing her eyes.

“Shhh...Follow me,” said Lady Tremaine as she opened the door to her room. Drizella followed her in and shut the door.

“Your sister went to the royal celebration tonight,” said Lady Tremaine setting the candle down on her table.

Drizella scrunched her face all up. “She what!!! Why would she do that? Did she forget what Cinderella did to us?”

Lady Tremaine sat down at the table calmly. “She went to ask forgiveness from Cinderella and of course Cinderella forgave her.”

“Forgiveness. That brat stole Prince Thomas from us. He was ours!! She should be asking us for forgiveness,” said Drisella as she began to stomp around the room.

“Dear Drizella, don't fret. Everything will work out fine. You see your sister met someone at the celebration tonight. Lord Jeremy Trenton, Lord Carlton Trenton's son. Lord Carlton Trenton is very wealthy and Jeremy is his only son. If your sister were to marry him, we would be taken care of the rest of lives. Anastasia would make sure of it. She is kind now and naive. She will make sure we want for nothing also.”

Drizella looked at her mother and shook her head. “Are you sure mother? Will she turn on us like Cinderella did?”

“No she won't,” said Lady Tremaine. “We will be support and nice to her. We will help her in any way we can to get this man. If we act nice to her and act like we care then she will want to make sure we never suffer. Also we must let her talk and be with that awful traitor of a step daughter. If she is friends with Cinderella and the Prince then maybe they will be more than willing to help her out if she gets married. Since Anastasia has no dowry, I am sure she will help Anastasia out and if we play our cards right maybe she will help with the wedding too.”

Drizella looked at her mother and smiled. “So let me get this straight, all I have to do is pretend to care about all of this and I will be rich again and be able to do as I please.”

“Yes my dear. We just have to bide our time and we will be the talk of the town once more. We just need to make sure this young man falls in love with her. We need to make her irresistible to him. I know it is going to take a lot of work to get her that way, but we can do it. We have to. This is our ticket to riches and we cannot let this pass us by,” said Lady Tremaine. Drizella and Lady Tremaine looked at each other and laughed. They knew Anastasia wanted to find love in the worst way and they would make sure she got it if she liked it or not.


Jeremy entered the dining hall and sat down at the table across from his father. Lord Carlton looked up briefly from his book to look at his son and then back down. He was not surprised to see his son stroll down to breakfast so late. Jeremy liked to stay out late and obviously last night has been one of those nights. He figured a girl was involved. Jeremy loved the ladies and they seemed to really like him. Of course none of them were good enough for his son or rich enough.

Jeremy picked up a muffin and broke it in two before speaking to his father. “You missed one hell of a celebration last night father. The wine and food were excellent at the palace. Lots of beautiful women too.”

Lord Carlton looked up at his son. “So was it a maid at the palace or maybe the baker's daughter that you got cozy with last night.”

Jeremy smiled and laughed. He took a bite of the muffin and then leaned towards his father and said, “Neither. I danced all night with the sister of the new Princess.”

Lord Carlton put down his book and tilted his head a bit. “Go on”, he said leaning towards his son.

“See Princess Ella has a sister named Anastasia Tremaine. Ella and her sister made up last night after years of not getting along. Ella and Prince Thomas were thrilled that Anastasia was there. I over heard Ella tell her sister that she was invited to the palace any time she wanted.,” said Jeremy sitting back in his chair.

Lord Carlton also sat back in his chair and folded his hands together. “Very interesting. So what do you think of this girl?”

“She's okay. Kind of pretty in her own way I guess. Not as pretty as some of the girls I've dated, but was the nicest looking girl that was available at the wedding last night,” said Jeremy picking the muffin back up and taking another bite.

Lord Carlton stood up and walked to the fireplace and before turning back around to his son. “We have been looking for a way to get close to the Royal family for years now and I think you have finally found a way son. A marriage with this girl would open new doors and riches beyond our dreams. We would move up in class. We would be protected from our enemies. You know what you must do Jeremy.”

Jeremy nodded at his father. “I will do it as long as I may have a mistress or two later on.”

Lord Carlton's smiled turned into a smirk. “As long as you marry this Anastasia, you can have as many mistresses as you desir