disclaimer: APH © Himaruya Hidekaz.

rating: K+

summary: The Princess of the Kingdom of Prussia comes across a rather extraordinary thief.

x.x.x

Prussia: Gilbert Beilschmidt x Julchen Beilschmidt

Fated Meeting

Standing by a stall in the market of the Kingdom of Prussia, Gilbert wiped his brow and glanced at the remaining items he had left to sell, then sighed heavily. The items he was selling wasn't just any items. He was selling treasures and relics that he managed to obtain from places no peasant would ever dare to cross, otherwise it would only mean crossing to your death.

The young man turned to his little brother who was standing by his side, and crouched down to his eye level. Ludwig stared back at his brother in question, as though he was waiting for him to say whatever he had in his mind. Gilbert only held a wide grin as he placed both hands on his brother's shoulders.

"Everything is going good, so far. The awesome me sold almost all of the royal treasures that I got! Now I only need to get more, and we can be rich! Kesesesese!" He told him cheerfully. Ludwig only nodded and smiled up at his big brother, then asked, "Where can we find those treasures, brother? I would like to help you too!"

Gilbert only laughed and shook his head, ruffling his younger brother's blond hair, then smirked at him, his crimson eyes gleaming with mischief.

"No can do, little guy. This is a mission that only I can go to! There are mean, evil things that eats people and kids like you."

Ludwig's eyes widened in horror. That was a natural reaction, since he was just a child, but he was smart too.

"What?! Then how come you can go, brother? Won't those evil things eat you too?"

Another burst of laughter came from the silver-haired teen. He stood up straight and crossed his arms in a conceited manner. "Kesesese! Only I can go because I am AWESOME! Nothing can get in my way! The danger fears me because of my awesomeness." He then winked at his brother and gathered the remaining items and the money that he earned. He was closing for now.

"You can't go because you are still too young, and I have to protect you. Come on, let's go."

His brother shook his head slightly, then took Gilbert's hand and walked along. They bought some food on the way with the money earned before retreating back to the place that they called home.

Soon it was night time, and Gilbert checked on Ludwig one more time. Once he made sure he was deeply asleep, Gilbert snuck out of the window slowly with a sack over his shoulder, and landed safely on the ground. He had to take the window because the door would creak and wake his brother. He took off down the streets, cut through some shortcuts, hid in between walls when he saw guards, and finally he was able to make it near the castle.

Gilbert was used to this. He had done this so many times, and he knew different routes to escape guards. Soon enough, he was standing on one of the windowsills of the castle. Gently, he pushed the window open and jumped inside, landing carefully.. Walking within the halls, there was no sound. No sound can be heard. Gilbert thought that this was a good sign, but he was still careful. He then walked into a room, and that room held something that would make Gilbert incredibly, fantastically rich! There were a lot of treasures and relics in display, gleaming by the moonlight. Gilbert could not control the grin he had as observed some of them. He sure was lucky! Awesomely lucky! Once he made sure there was no one in sight, he seized the chance to snatch them and place them in his sack.

He was taking his time in collecting whatever treasure that he found attractive enough that he didn't hear slight footsteps coming from the corner. A loud gasp triggered Gilbert to drop his sack, the loud clangs of the treasures that slid out echoed in between the walls as the silver-haired man turned around to face whoever caught him. His heart was drumming against his ribcage that it was almost deafening as he panicked, and his breathe was caught in his throat. He couldn't talk. He was caught. This was his end. His brother was going to be left alone and—

"What in the world do you think you're doing?! Step away from that right now!"

A moment of silence passed, and Gilbert was staring back at a girl who shared the same hair colour he did, but it was rather wild rather than straight. Her eyes had multiple colours, and they were filled with passion and….and urge to probably kill? It was her dress indicated that she was rather…wealthy, fancy, and…royal. But that wasn't too important now. Gilbert was sweating, but once his eyes had taken in everything, he stared back at her and sighed heavily, wiping his brow, then placed a hand on his hip and smirked. Well, if he were to be truthful, she was rather good-looking…her eyes were unique to him…and she looked like she was about the same age as he was too…but he had to get out of this situation. Focus. No time to dwell on her now.

"Why hello there. I didn't notice that you were coming. Is there anything you need?" Gilbert spoke in a casual manner, unaware of who he was really speaking with. Julchen glared at him and crossed her arms haughtily.

"The first thing I need is for you to bow to me. Is this how you would treat a princess?"

Oh no. This was bad…Gilbert just shoved himself into a deeper trap!
He tensed once again, his eyes widened in shock as his breathe got stuck in his throat again.

"P-Princess…?!"

"That's right! And I demand to know why you're taking all those things with you."

Gilbert racked his brain to find something to say…an excuse..anything! If they knew he was a thief, he would never see Ludwig again…He instantly bowed to her and feigned a regretful voice.

"My deepest and most awesome apologies for disturbing you at this hour, Your Highness. Forgive me, but I will leave now. I will have to return to my brother, who awaits—" Gilbert was instantly interrupted when Princess Julchen walked passed him and bent down to pick up one of the relics that was in his sack. Now Gilbert was in real trouble…

"This is a present from my great-grandfather Fredrick! It was passed down to my family for years! Why is this in your—" She gasped immediately and glared at him with anger and disgust at the same time. "YOU THIEF!" His heart was pounding heavily in his chest now and it was deafening and he was dripping wet with sweat already…

"Y-you don't understand…!" He laughed nervously. "I was taking away those relics so I can polish them! That's right, the awesome me is going to polish these beautiful relics and make them sparkle awesomely."

Princess Julchen smirked "Oh really? But we already have someone who keeps them safe from dusts in this room. They are the only ones who have access to this place. Try again." Gilbert was caught. It was too late. He played all his cards up until this moment. What will happen to him now…Ludwig…He shouldn't have come here…Why did he ever think of going to the castle…this was all a big mistake…

"Thought so." Julchen huffed. "I will have you taken away and beheaded! And once my father knows that I have caught a thief all by myself, he will be able to recognize my awesomeness!" She told him haughtily. Gilbert couldn't say a word. What should he do now…? He was going to die for sure…but he can't let that happen. He was too awesome to let that happen! His pride be damned!

"WAIT!" He called out to her, and Julchen raised a brow as she looked down at him with disinterest.

"Hm? Any more un-awesome lies?"

"Listen…Your Highness… I..I can't return these." He told her with a dry tone. "I need them. "Then you will only have to die." She said as a matter-of-factly. "If I die now, who will take care of my brother? Who will feed my brother…?"

Julchen's eyes widen slightly in surprise as she looked straight at him. "What?"

Gilbert ran a hand through his silver hair, looking away for a few moments before he stared back at her. All humor gone. He had to do what he had to do. If he dies…

"I am doing all this for my brother…if you kill me now, he won't have anyone in his life to take care of him and watch him grow…I need to earn money to buy food for us. Everything I have done so far is for me and my little brother. I don't expect you to ever understand this, Princess, but this is the truth." All politeness and respect gone, he went with the truth.

Julchen fell silent as she stared at Gilbert. She didn't speak a word as she let it all sink in. She was right in front of a thief who was trying to help his family…and by the sound of it, his only family left. She pondered if he was only trying to make her pity him. She observed him carefully. His ragged clothes…his dishevelled hair…she has never come across someone like that in her whole life. If she were honest, he didn't look bad either. His crimson eyes and silver hair contrasted each other in a unique way. And it was those eyes that told her he wasn't lying, and that he had no other choice. Julchen didn't trust him, but she trusted her instincts.

"So you thought you could earn more money by stealing from the palace…" She said, looking down in thought. Gilbert only nodded and looked away from her. After another few moments of silence, Julchen let out a heavy sigh and looked back at Gilbert.

"Leave that stuff here. Stop by at training grounds in the forest." Gilbert stared at her with his mouth opened as she spoke. What does this mean? He was…spared?

Julchen knew what he was thinking and rolled her eyes. "Don't look at me like that!"

Gilbert finally regained his senses and said, "The training grounds…? W-why…you're sparing me..?" Julchen puffed her cheeks and turned away from him.

"I just think it is un-awesome to have you executed…since your brother needs you. I see why you're doing this, but you will be killed either way if you took treasures from this palace. So… meet me at the training grounds at 10:00."

Gilbert raised a brow at her and tilted his head. "Won't you tell me why?"

"I'll give you something. Just wait and see."

"You're awfully brave. You're a Princess. Aren't you scared that I could be doing something to you?"

Much to his surprise, Julchen let out a laugh, turned to him and placed a hand on her hip, and raised her head. "Ha! Just because I am a Princess does not mean I have to sit around all day. I am AWESOME! The AWESOME Princess of the Kingdom of Prussia! No thief can stop my awesomeness." Gilbert stared at her in surprise at her use of words, before smirking at her and crossing his arms.

"I'm not just any thief, Princess. I'm an awesome thief. I can't help but realize that we use words the same way." Gilbert said bemusedly.

Julchen returned his smirk and said, "I never thought thieves would have such a purpose for stealing. Most of the ones I know only do it for themselves. You're a different one."

"An awesome one." Gilbert said. Julchen let out a slight giggle, then looked around cautiously. "You have to go. Someone might come. Take that sack and leave the treasures."

Gilbert also looked around, then nodded, before frowning. "I can't go out the window, though…and what about the treasures?" He nodded to the scattered relics on the ground.

"I'll take care of that." Julchen then turned around and began to walk towards the door of the room. "Follow me." Gilbert grabbed his sack and followed Julchen out of the room and soon they reached an alcove squished between two large statues. Julchen opened the doors and they both ran outside until they stopped by a fence.

"There aren't any guards here, so you can climb out." She told him. Gilbert nodded, before turning to her. Julchen waited for him to speak, but he only remained quiet. After a few seconds, Gilbert spoke, rubbing his head.

"Uhh…I just wanted to…thank you…for not executing me and for helping me out…" A blush was visible as he spoke. The next thing he said was quite hard…he ran a hand through his hair and looked away from her. "I-It's actually…r-really awesome of you…"

Julchen blushed at his words and looked away from him, crossing her arms. "I-it's nothing, alright! I know it is awesome of me! I wouldn't do anything un-awesome!"

Gilbert's cheeks heated and he couldn't help but chuckle. "Kesesese! Same here. Well, it's getting late…I'll see you around."

"Wait!"

Gilbert turned to her and raised a brow.

"I didn't get your name.." Julchen whispered.

"Oh! Haha, I'm Gilbert. Nice to finally meet the awesome me." He grinned.

Julchen huffed and smirked. "Julchen. Princess Julchen."

Gilbert chuckled at her. "Yeah, I've heard of you. Julchen…Nice name for a princess like you." He reached out and tugged on a lock of her silver hair, allowing it to slip through his finger.

That movement only triggered Julchen's heart to skip a beat and it made heat rush up her cheeks. "W-well…y-you should get going…it's late." She avoided eye contact once more, and turned away from him. "Remember, training grounds at 10:00."

"Got it. See you Princess." Gilbert managed to climb through the fence and land on the grass safely. He looked over his shoulder at the princess and gave her a wink, before disappearing through the bushes.

Julchen stared after him and whispered, "Bye.." before turning around and placing a hand on her chest.

"Gilbert huh…he isn't so bad after all.." She muttered to herself, before shaking her head and rushing back inside.

Little did she know that somewhere, Gilbert was leaning against a tree and looking up at the sky."What the…hell…" He muttered. "Princess Julchen, huh.. The Awesome Princess Julchen.." Smirking, he moved away from the tree and continued to walk away. He had already dumped his sack somewhere.

All in all, they were both looking forward to meet each other the next day at 10:00. One would only say that it was a fated meeting between the princess and the thief.

a/n: This was based on an Ask that I received on my selfcest tumblr blog. (If you're interested, check out the link in my profile). Well, the selfcest continues! I hope you selfcest fans out there enjoyed reading this! Please review, I would love to see your feedbacks!