Blu stared at her brother in front of her; her vision blurred from the tears that had formed in her eyes.

"Anthony," she said. "Is it really you?"

The boy in front of her placed his hands on hers from between the bars and held on to them tightly.

"Its really me," he said with a smile on his face as a tear trailed down his cheek.

Blu smiled, and even though her brother's hands felt cold on her's, she felt a warm sensation surge through her body. She brought her hand up to touch his cheek.

"My God it really is you," she laughed. Anthony smiled. Blu looked at him in the dim light. He looked quite the same since she had seen him last; his brown hair, his eyes, his smile. Although he did start to grow a beard. Blu laughed at herself.

"You're growing a beard," she said as she felt the stubby hair on his chin.

"Yeah I did," he laughed. Blu smiled and just stared at him, making sure all of this was real. She couldn't believe this was happening. It's been almost five months since he had seen anyone in her family-- friends even.

The two siblings sat in silence on the cold ground of the dungeon. It seemed like a whole minute before Anthony broke the silence.

"I missed you Blu," he said.

"I missed you too," she replied. She looked at the chains on his feet.

"Why are you here?" She finally asked. Her brother's smile faded and he pressed his lips into a straight line. He stared at Blu but he seemed to look right through her as if she was transparent. He clenched his teeth as if he was struggling to find the right words to say.

"Father has fallen ill," he said through his gritted teeth.

Blu listened to his voice echo through the dark dungeon and waited until the sound of his voice faded to answer.

"He's sick?" She said shakily. Anthony nodded slowly. Blu's heart dropped. How did he get sick? How long has he been sick for? When will he recover? A look of worry crossed Blu's face and questions filled her head.

"The doctor has made a few visits and he thinks he will eventually recover-- but slowly."

Blu stared at the ground in disbelief. She had seen her father as the strongest man on earth. He was a role model to her.

"But what does this have to do with you being here?" She asked looking back at her brother.

"Well," Anthony started, "since father is very sick, I was handed over a complete ownership of the house."

That made sense, Blu thought. In the village, only men were allowed to be owners of the house. Blu hated this rule. If women were the workers of the house, why did their husbands have to have ownership? But she shook her thoughts away.

"Go on," Blu said after clearing her throat.

"I am now the official owner of the house because we don't know what is going to happen to father. Now here's the problem," he said, scooting closer to his sister on the other side of the bars.

"We're running out of money. With father being sick, mother and I had to pay for the doctor to come and visit every few days.

"Yesterday the tax collectors from the castle came to collect taxes. Mother and I didn't have enough money to pay all the taxes. The tax collectors were not happy about this at all. And since I am the owner of the house, they dragged me here."

Anthony stopped for a moment to let Blu understand what was going on. He waited for some sort of reaction out of her, but all she did was stare at the ground. Her eyes almost looked like glass as if they would break at any moment.

She then finally cranked her head towards him.

"They brought you here because you didn't have enough money?" She asked, waiting for him to clarify the situation.

Her brother nodded.

Blu stared at the blood on the walls of her brother's cell. An unsettling feeling overcame her.

"What are they doing with you?" She asked as she looked at the walls. Anthony noticed this and looked where she was looking.

He saw the blood stains on the walls and his eyes furrowed. He was scared. Very scared indeed. But of course he was frightened, he was in the home of the King! He looked back at Blu, trying to cover his fearful expression. He didn't want to worry his sister.

"I have no idea," he responded to her question honestly.

"That horrid king has done awful things. Oh, how much happier own kingdom would be without him. I'd like to snap his neck myself!" He raised his voice.

Blu would've told him to quiet down but instead, a look of hurt crossed her face. She sat in silence for a moment, studying her brother's angry expression.

"What if the king's not all bad?" She said hesitantly. "What if there's some good in him too?"

Anthony's face changed to confusion and she immediately regretted what she had said.

"Good? The king?" He said. He looked at his sister and couldn't believe the words that came from her mouth. "How could you say such things? The king has always been bad. Always has, and always will be," he stated. Blu stared at her brother's angry face. She didn't want to anger him, especially in a situation like this.

And although she disagreed with Anthony and knew there in fact was a good side to the king, she kept her mouth shut.

"You're right," she lied. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's gotten into me lately." Anthony's face softened and he felt bad for Blu. He sighed and reached his hand out to touch his sister's cheek.

"Don't be sorry," he said soothingly. He felt bad for making Blu feel bad. "Now tell me about you. What is it like to be a servant of the king?" He asked curiously.

Blu didn't know where to start.

"Its awful," she said. And so she told Anthony everything from the time she first stepped foot in the castle (only leaving out the parts about her and the king).

She told him about the tiring work, the endless days, the king's birthday, the three days she had spent in the dungeon, the other servants and the people she had made friends with.

The whole time Anthony remained silent, listening to his sister's voice; for he did not know how long it would be before he hears her voice agian.

At first Blu was hesitant about telling Anthony about her father's journal. She eventually decided to tell him. But his reaction surprised Blu.

"I already knew," he said after Blu had explained this to him. Her eyes widened.

"You knew?" She half yelled, half whispered.

Anthony nodded. "We didn't want to tell you because you were so young. You wouldn't understand. Father was planning on telling you this year, but instead you became a servant yourself."

Blu couldn't believe what she was hearing. She felt like yelling at the top of her lungs. Why hadn't anyone told her. Anger filled her body, but she remained still. And instead of bursting with rage, she simply nodded her head. She didn't want to ruin this time with her brother. She didn't know how long it would last.

For the rest of the day, the two siblings spoke to one another, telling each other about their different lives. While she was talking to Anthony, she missed her parents even more.

Blu liked talking to Anthony. She was so happy to finally see a familiar face.

But they're long conversation was interrupted by the footsteps of the guards. Anthony stopped mid-sentence and his eyes widened.

Clip clap, clip clap.

The two siblings looked at each other in fear. Blu held onto her brother's hand as the sound of the footsteps became louder and louder. Blu's heart almost beat out of her chest. Anthony gave her hand a gentle squeeze and gave her a 'don't worry' look.

Then the guards came into sight. They were the same two guards that had brought Anthony here a couple of hours ago.

The siblings looked at the guard's as they started to unlock only Anthony's cell. Blu quietly whimpered as she was terrified for her brother. She held onto him tightly.

The guard's shut the barred door behind them and immediately rushed towards Anthony. One of the guards noticed Blu holding his right hand and he raised his eyebrows. But he didn't care to ask questions.

Blu quickly leaned into Anthony's ear before the guard's could separate them.

"I love you Anthony, no matter what happens," she whispered. Anthony smiled; a sad smile. And Blu knew that this was his farewell. Before he could even respond to his sister, the guards grabbed him.

They roughly lifted the man from the ground and his hand was easily ripped from Blu's.

"No!" She cried. "Don't hurt him!" But she knew her cried where no use. The guards pushed Anthony against the wall and the sound of chains clanking filled the air. It was a sound Blu hated.

"Sorry boy," one guard said. "You didn't pay the taxes. I'm going to have to kill you. King's orders."

King's orders.

At this Blu screamed.

"No! Don't hurt him!" She vigorously shook the bars that separated her cell and his. Tears streamed down her face. She couldn't witness her own brother's death. This couldn't happen.

She watched as the guard drew his sword from his waist. She could hear her brother groan from the sight of the long, sharp blade.

"Stop!" Blu screamed even louder. "That's my brother!" The guard went closer to Anthony and teasingly glided the blade on his skin.

"Any last words?" The guard asked evilly.

But just as Anthony opened his mouth, a loud, stong voice echoed from behind them.

"Stop!" The voice said. Everyone immediately spun around to see him. The king.

He rushed towards the scene. Blu could not figure out the expression on his face. His eyebrows stood in a position which made him look angry but not outraged. He looked at Blu then at Anthony.

"What's with all the screaming?" He asked. Blu could tell he was impatient and annoyed by the tone of his voice.

"Th- they're going to k-kill my brother," Blu struggled to get the words out. She hoped he would feel some sympathy for her.

The king stiffened and craned his head towards Anthony who was cowering in the corner. A look of surprise crossed his face and his eyebrows fell back to they're original position. His face seemed to soften a bit.

He looked back at Blu and she was sure she could see sympathy in his eyes.

"This is your brother?" He asked, his voice soft now. Blu nodded.

The king stood back scratched his chin. He squinted his eyes as if he was making a hard decision.

He then took a deep breath and looked back at the guards who didn't know what was going on.

"Alright then," he said. "Don't hurt the boy. Take him back to the village. Give him two more weeks to get the money," the king told them.

And at that moment all Blu wanted yo do was run up and kiss the king.

The guards looked at each other in confusion.

"But your majesty," one stated. "You ordered us to kill him."

"I know what i said," the king said firmly. "Now listen to what I'm telling you now."

The guard's grunted and brought Anthony out of the dungeon. Blu watched as they took her brother away. She watched until they faded into the dungeon, for she did not know when she would see Anthony agian.

There, in the dungeon stood only two people; Blu and the king. The king who saved her brother from death.

He stared at her with his Blue eyes and she stared at him. They stood in silence for a moment.

Then Blu stepped closer to him and planted a kiss on his lips.

"Thank You," she whispered. And at that moment she knew exactly what Anthony was thinking. Wherever he was.

Maybe the king isn't really that bad, he thought.

______________________________________
Ah, I love it when Delirious shows his kind spot. And I'm not sure to confirm that Anthony is actually Big jiggly panda. But if you want him to be. Then he is.☺