Sweet Dreams Are Made of This
She didn't know how to reckon the span of her freedom, that would fall to The Time, and she was not here. She did not know who had freed her. She did not even know where she was. All she knew was that she was, indeed, free. And that it wasn't as delicious as it had been cooked up to be.
It had rained recently, more with the vicious edge of The Watery than the gentle playfulness of her friend The Cloud, and she had feared she might melt under the deluge. As the drops continued on and she huddled under an awning in the dark and damp of the night, there was a part of her that almost welcomed the idea, but she shooed it away. Instead, she thought about the bright times, the happy times, when the master had called her forth and she changed pebbles into gumdrops and grass into licorice. And the children would laugh and clap and dance about, and she would dance with them. And the master would stand off to the side. He'd have a soft smile, but a sad one, like he was happy that others were happy but not happy himself. And then she would cry a little, and honeydrops would fall off of her cheeks.
She'd try to make him happy, as was her nature, and felt confused when he didn't want her candy-cane bouquets or marzipan butterfly. But his smiles were all distant and sad, as if there was no little boy inside. But the master's pets had enjoyed her company. Both of them were always glad to see her, and she would make them so happy when she could. The warm furry one ate the most, and loved cakes and cookies and most of all pudding, but anything she touched he was after. The cool handsome one was different.
The rain had slacked during her reminiscence, and the moon hung, half-clouded, in the sky. She looked up at it, smiled, and thought more of the cool one. The games were always different with him. Where she would play Hide the Treat with the warm one, placing candy eggs and chocolate animals all through the forest for him to seek out, with the cool one she would play candy spider. She'd make a special treat for him, like a spun sugar castle, and set it in front of him, then hover there and watch. She was always distracted by something or another, and she'd look back and it would be gone, even if it was only a blink. She never tired of that game, though, and he always spoke so softly to her, so gently, like she was as delicate as the sugar-glass.
But one day she tried to make the master happy because he seemed so angry about something.
She redecorated his room for him, making all those dry and tasteless things on his shelf the tastiest of cakes, but he had yelled at her and sent her away and not brought her out again., and no honeydrop tears had swayed him.
And here she was, no warm one, no cool one, and no master. No other Cards to keep her company, just black birds that tried to peck at her and drove her into hiding. But there seemed to no birds at the moment, and no rain, so it was time to set about to look for her master again, or, she suddenly thought, a new master to love her. She ventured forth from under the awning, leaving behind a honeydrop trail.
* * *
The scent of sugar wafted through the air, carrying with it both comfort and hope. Two wide eyes blinked open, and a cherubic smile tentatively dawned upon the lips of The Sweet Card. Careful not to expose herself lest more of the black birds peck at her, she drifted towards the heavenly aroma. Many people were there, and they all seemed to be smiling and laughing and eating sweet things. A little girl ran into her and they both went tumbling, the former to the ground, losing a piece of fudge and she was knocked back into the wall, where bricks became poundcake. The child giggled at her, pointing at her striped stockings, and then noticed the fudge on the ground and began to cry. Quickly she scooped up the fudge and offered it to her, changing the dirt to sprinkles, but the child shook her head.
"I'm not allowed to eat things that fall on the ground. They've got germs."
She was fairly certain that whatever germs were, they too had been made sweet, but she had no way to explain that, so she scooped up a rock and juggled it about for a bit, and then turned it into an enormous cupcake for the girl, who beamed and grabbed it with both hands.
"Wow! You do magic tricks!"
She nodded and cautiously nibbled on the fudge, in case she was wrong about the 'germs' whatever they were, but nothing seemed to be amiss. Quite the contrary, in fact. She gave a delighted little squeak as she realized that this fudge was as good as her own. As the sugar melted in her mouth she felt some strength flow back to her magical form. She held the candy out and gave a quizzical look.
"It's fudge," explained the girl around the mammoth pastry stuffed into her mouth.
She nodded and then gave another quizzical look, this time putting a hand above her eyes turning her head.
"Someone's coming? No... hmm... Oh, where did I get it?"
Sweet popped the candy in her mouth and clapped in joy.
"The tables right by the end. The ones that Penny has. She makes the bestest stuff, but mom only gave me a little money, so I only got 4 cookies and three pieces of fudge. My older brother calls her Red, and says she's really Little Red Riding Hood, and he has pictures to prove it, too! Speaking of him, wait 'til he hears I met the Candy Fairy down by the Community Center."
She clapped again and drifted in the direction the girl had indicated. The candy was wonderful, and she needed more. It had more than sugar in it, it had love, and she craved the nourishment of both of those. Peeking out around the corner, she was immediately able to tell the creator of the fudge. People milled about her table, taking sweets and giving her green clothes and shiny circles which must have been tokens of their happiness.
And then she spotted the fudge. One... two... three... more than three. More than three containers were there, stacked by the bushes, and if they all had fudge like the piece she had had, and like the tin that the girl had just opened up, then she was going to be a very happy Card.
She looked more closely at the girl as she snuck into the bushes. She had red hair, short and close about her head, with white frosting all around the tips. Like a fox's tail! She stifled a giggle so as not to draw attention. She was a little plump, so she liked eating food as well as making it, and very plump in the places that marked a woman from a little girl, which Sweet didn't know how to interpret. But what she didn't know wasn't nearly as important as what she could see. The lips could give a smile without the heart, but these didn't. Her lips and eyes and heart all beamed as she gave people sweets, and Sweet beamed too. Such a kind girl wouldn't mind if a Card had some as well. Her hands darted out and grabbed a tin, intending to pull it into the bush.
"Don't worry, I have some more."
With those words the redhead reached down to grab the same tin, and their hands touched. A shock ran through the Sweet, a realization that this girl had some Potential. She didn't know how much, just that she had at least enough to Master one weak, scared, and very lonely card if she chose. The look on the girls face as she held on and turn to face the would-be thief was stern and reproving, but not mean.
"I would've given you something, if you didn't have any money. I have some cookies that broke."
And then their eyes met. Bright green eyes peeked through clear disks, disks which reflected The Sweet's face framed by the bush.
"You... you're not human, are you?"
She shook her head and glanced meaningfully at the tin.
"Go ahead. They're not Reese's Pieces, but I hope they're alien approved. I'll be with you as soon as I can, I have to find someone to watch the table."
She turned away and called to someone, but Sweet grew timid, and slid back away, taking another tin. That one, too was finished by the time that the redhead found her behind the building. Sweet's eyes widened when she saw that there were one... two... three tins in her hands, which, when added to the two she already had meant... more than three. She clapped and floated over.
"Are you an alien?"
Quizzical look.
"From another world?"
Shrug, then hopeful smile.
"Well, aren't you sweet?"
The hope exploded to pure joy. She had NAMED her! She hadn't defeated her, per se, but she had fed her, and made her happy, and NAMED her, and had magical power. That opened the door for her to be her new master!
The redhead's eyes went wide as the sugar-puffed spirit flew over to her and... in to her. The ring that her girlfriend had sent her flashed warm, then cool, and something was swirling around in the air. She plucked the spinning pasteboard from the air and observed with wonder that it bore the image of the strange spirit girl and the logo The Sweet. She had little time to ponder that before a small golden creature, like a winged little stuffed bear, buzzed over to her and landed on her shoulder, leaning against her head.
"Good going, Kid! You're a natural. My name's Kero, and I was hoping like anything that you'd get The Sweet Card."
"K... Kero?"
"Yeah! I'm the Guardian Beast, Kero Beros. And you're Penny, the one who captured The Sweet Card, and is now going to be Sailor Sweet Card! I'll explain it all later."
"W... Why me?"
The diminutive form took a dramatic stance, stabbing one paw into the air.
"Because you make such wonderful PUDDING!"
