Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters from Yu-Gi-Oh in this story. I do own Princess Ashlan.

Thoughts will be written in Italics

"Verbal Conversation will be in Quotes"

AN – I have written and posted this story before but I was unhappy with it, thus leading to me not updating it. I have deleted the original and am re-posting it as I have always enjoyed the bones of this story but wasn't liking where it was heading the first time a wrote it. I hope you enjoy my new version.

Prologue

Chapter 1
5000 years ago is where our story begins, in a small kingdom located on the coast of Greece, ruled by King Alexander and Queen Layla. The kingdom was prosperous and overflowing with happiness and has been at peace for over 200 years. However, one day, 17 years ago, something amazing happened that would change the kingdom and the lives of the king and queen forever; a little girl was born and they named her Ashlan. The King and Queen were overjoyed because it was their assumption that they could never have children, after trying and failing for so many years. The kingdom rejoiced for their new-found princess whose beauty was envied by many. The princess was born with brown hair like her mothers, lightly tanned skin and beautiful emerald green eyes, like her father. When she first opened her little eyes, the king and queen were shocked as they had never seen such amazing and beautiful eyes that shined so brightly. Royals and peasants alike came from far and wide so that they could get a glimpse of the princess, as she was, without a doubt, the kingdoms pride and joy. Her beauty was so rare and unheard of that King Alexander chose to keep her hidden away for the most part as he did not want anyone to seek her out to try and take her.

Ashlan Alexandria Leon never thought that her beauty and smiling personality would one day be the cause of such sorrow and destruction.

~ 17 Years Later ~

"Ashlan!" Where on earth is that girl! I am getting far too old for this. "Ashlan!" The King had been searching for the young princess for over an hour with no luck. Tired and frustrated, the king was very close to giving up. However, just as King Alexander was about to admit defeat, Joey, Ashlan's trusted bodyguard and closest friend, entered the garden.

"Joey! Have you seen Ashlan anywhere lately? I have been searching for her for what seems like hours and cannot seem to find her. I swear, that girl needs to start growing up and taking her responsibilities as princess seriously… (Sigh)…. Joey, if you see her please tell her that her mother and I are looking for her as we need to discuss her future and this kingdom's future along with it." With that, the King took his leave and left finding his daughter in the capable hands of his adopted daughter, Josephine.

"You can count on me your majesty" proclaimed Joey in a very assertive and commanding tone. Joey paused for a mere minute while she waited until she knew the king would be out of ear-shot of the garden and then she yelled.

"Ash! I know that you are here! Come on out. Your father is gone now" Yelled Joey as she craned her neck looking up into the nearest tree, knowing that the princess would be up there somewhere. All Joey heard next was rustling of leaves and giggling from one of the trees in the far-right corner of the garden.

"Ash….? Come on down. What are you doing up in the tree?"

"It was the only place that I knew father would never think to look" said Ashlan as she slid down out of the tree, landing gracefully on the ground without a scratch. The princess still had all the beautiful qualities that she had as a child but no, far-more grownup. The princess had obviously grown a considerable amount but was still considered to be quite short, standing at about 5"3. Her lightly-tanned skin, that was not as dark as her comrades or her parents, was flawless and smooth. The princess's brown hair now fell down, in natural waves, to the small of her back. Her hair had also lightened from the sun over the years giving her natural blonde highlights throughout, making it shine in the morning sun. Her eyes still held a gleam that could only compare to rarest of emeralds. She hardly wore any makeup as she did not need to but she did lightly outline her eyes with a small amount of kohl. Her outfit consisted of an aqua blue, two-piece shear, chiffon skirt and a matching top that showed a small amount of her midriff. There were small gold details on the edge of the skirt and on the upper rim of her top. She was also adorned with gold arm bands on each arm and a gold circlet around her head to signify her status. She was a beauty to behold and no other in the kingdom could compare.

"Why are you hiding from him? You love your father and have never gone out of your way to disobey him. Your father loves you and has always looked out for your best interests." Joey asked, still puzzled as to why the princess was going out of her way to avoid her father.

"I know…. But the only thing we ever seem to talk about lately is how I am at the age where I should be seeking audiences with eligible men to find a future husband, so that I can make alliances and bear children and become a woman and blah, blah, blah…. I'm sick of being pushed to marry someone that is only after my wealth and beauty!…. I'm sorry Joey… I just want to fall in love on my own time… It does not help that my father and mother have been pushing that Lord Dartz guy in my face lately…. I mean, I'm sure he is a wonderful man but I can't help feeling that he is not interested in me as a person, he is just interested in my title… You're so lucky Joey! You have no responsibilities to this kingdom and you get to marry for love." She said softly, ending with a sigh. Ashlan raised her face to the sky just in time to notice two birds flying by, intertwining their wings; flying together in perfect harmony… Even the birds get to fall in love…. "I wish I wasn't the princess anymore…. It's not fair" scoffed Ashlan, crossing her arms against her chest.

Joey felt bad for her best friend. They had known each other ever since she could remember. It was Ash who introduced her to the King and it was Ash who convinced the King and Queen to take her in as their own when they found out that her parents were killed when some thieves raided her village. Ash was out shopping in the village when they first met. Joey tried to steal one of the princess's bracelets but she caught her, but instead of the princess getting mad she decided to give Joey the bracelet to help her. Eventually the two girls became very close and Ash began to worry about Joey's safety so she went to her father and asked if Joey could stay in the palace. The King was apprehensive at first but soon decided that what his daughter needed was a friend and Joey was a beautiful young girl who just needed a good place to grow up. The King and Queen knew that, if given the chance, Josephine could grow up to be a wonderful young woman who would stick by their daughter's side like the sibling they could never give her.

Joey did grow up to be an amazing friend and ally. Joey was a lot more adventurous than Ashlan and she always seemed to go out of her way to cause trouble. She was strong, both physically and mentally. The King noticed this quite quickly and decided that it would be best to have Josephine take out some of her anger and energy into studying battle. Joey turned out to be one of the best soldiers in their militia but the King and Queen thought that the best place to keep Joey would be at their daughter's side as a friend and also as a body guard. Queen Layla never felt right about having the male soldiers being in such close proximities to her daughter so having Joey there was the next best thing. Joey's combat skills grew and developed over the years but so did her appearance. Joey was only one year older than Ashlan but looked quite a bit older. While the princess looked years younger than she actually was, Joey had a hardened appearance to her that made her seem much older than she actually was. Joey stood quite tall at 5"11. She had lightly tanned skin that accentuated her toned muscles from all her combat training. Joey had sandy blonde, curly hair that reached down to her butt. Joey always adorned her eyes with a bit of Kohl to accentuate her honey brown eyes. Joey hated that most of the women in the kingdom were made to wear skirts so she instead opted to wear a slim fitting pair of pants with a skirt that draped over top. Her top consisted of a strapless armour top which was both stylish and helpful in combat situations as it protected her more. She also had a belt which had her sword strapped to it as she never went anywhere without her sword.

Joey felt bad that she couldn't do anything to help her friend as she also did not like this Dartz guy that was trying to weasel his way into the Royal family.

"I know Ash, I don't like him either… he gives me the creeps. Every time he comes near me or tries to talk to me, I feel like stabbing him in the throat just so I won't have to hear his voice anymore" Joey stopped dead in her tracks once she noticed the open jaw that her friend was now sporting "– I mean – punch him in the face? Yeah, punch him… not stab… punch. All I want to do is punch him in the face whenever he opens his mouth, but hey, maybe you can talk to your parents into maybe looking elsewhere for a husband? I mean, they can't all be like that guy, there has to be some decent guys out there still… right?" Joey knew full well that finding a guy that would love her best friend for what was inside her and not her status would be hard to find but he still wanted to keep her spirits up.

Ashlan gave a huge sigh "I know…. But – "but before the princess could utter another syllable, she heard her mother cry out her name from the palace walls.

"Ashlan!" yelled Queen Layla from the palace balcony. "Get up here right now! Your father and I have some very important matters to discuss".

Ugh! Can I not catch a break for once in my life? "I will be right up mother! I'll see you around Joey! Maybe you and I, Ryou and Malik could go for a ride later on today? I need to get out of this palace soon or I think I might go crazy!" with a final smile Ash took off towards the throne room where her parents were most-likely impatiently waiting for her.

"See you Ash!" Wait till she gets there and finds out what it's really about…. I wish I could have told her that her parents have arranged her marriage already with a foreign prince…. At least it's not Dartz…. I wonder what the prince of Egypt will be like….

With that in mind, Joey heads off to try and find her other friends to maybe plan something to distract their friend from the future she never asked for.