Disclaimer: I do not own and did not create DBZ or its characters. Any original characters are mine and are not to be used without written permission.

I know that a few of the people who'll be reading this will have either one of these two reactions. What are you doing here after three plus years? Why are you plagiarizing this story, I've read bits of it before! In an attempt to answer these questions as well as some others there will be an extended author's note before the actual prologue.

Over the past few years I've been going through a great deal of pain, physical and mental, mostly due to a chronic illness. My interest in watching the actual DBZ series has waned considerably over the years, because action has never really been that important to me. However, the love of fan fiction and the characters never left me. It was therapy for me to write, and I was quite young then, very insecure about my writing and I admit, rather bad. It was also therapy for me to read them, and I enjoy reading to this day. But the urge to write came back to me. Stories, like this one, kept bouncing around in my head and just wouldn't go away, so I knew that I just had to continue them. And so we are here, back at the beginning, back at one of my pet projects. I was originally known as Sweet Sharie, and I started The Third Time's the Charm back in 2001. I hope you will enjoy this updated, renewed, revised and better written version of this little tale.

As one final note, I would like to personally thank the readers for their support in the past, particularly Pocket Mouse. Your love of this story, to the point of keeping it on your favorite list really touched me. It's also what gave me the extra little to come work on this. Thank you for caring so much - WR

Prologue:

This story is a tale of love found, lost, and then found again. This is the thing that most faerie tales claim to be. This is what little girls are always giggling about behind their hands. This is the thing dreams are made of. This is the thing that fuels all great passions in life. This is the greatest passion of all. This is love, true love; love beyond time, beyond reason, beyond belief. Fated love, with destined players to act out this passionate scene. This is their real story.

As all stories must start at the very beginning, so must this one. Long ago in the faerie realm, there were two forbidden lovers. This tale of fate and fortune begins in their foolishness.

Lily was the most beautiful faerie in the entire realm. Her silken locks shone the richest rosy color, her eyes, of the sky, a deep dark blue. Her skin, unmarked by blemish, glowed creamy white in the sunlight. Hers was a face that one could look at forever, for it went beyond the natural immortal beauty; she captured your heart with one look at you from under the long black lashes that framed her limitless, piercing eyes. She also lacked a failing often found in the breathtakingly gorgeous; her mind was bright and sharp, not devoid of original thought.

Derrick was an absolutely stunning specimen of all that could be handsome in a male faerie. His long hair was the color of endless midnight and his eyes sparkled with the clear green of the forest in springtime. His body rippled when he moved with the lean muscles that came from working as a servant or farmhand in the lands and houses of the more powerful; Derrick was born of a low level faerie, who was forced to send his oldest child to work to help them survive in the often cutthroat world of theirs.

Lily sneaked into the forest one morning to bathe in one of the secreted pools she had found. Merely a victim of chance, Derrick found her there when he passed the pond on one of his early morning walks. Though it was unseemly for a commoner to spy one of royal blood in such a vulnerable position, she did not grow angered with him. They stayed at the pool longer than they should of, much to the displeasure of Derrick's bosses and Lily's tutors, but they promised to meet again. They knew the harmony that both felt in the presence of the other made this meeting anything but ordinary. They had many meetings at the secret pool, and eventually they feel deeply in love. They knew they could never be married in the eyes of their kin, so they devised a plan.

There lived on the outskirts of their realm, an older faerie who had delved deeper in the occult magicks, and therefore knew more about the old ways and spells than any other. They knew that some faeries had occasionally given up their immortal lives for those in the realm of mortals, though these were cursed by all and their names were banned from ever being used again. This faerie, or witch, as she was called by the rest of their kind, was the only one who had both the power and knowledge to grant them what they desired: to live happily as mortals on the mortal plane, and to be granted souls so that they could remain together even in death. But they also reasoned that she would not do such to any faerie, especially the king's daughter, without exacting some great price.

So before they went to her with their request, the princess went to all the plants and flowers and trees. She told their story and in return, the plants and flowers and trees all wept tears of sorrow, which turned into flawless emeralds. The young lovers took these to the deviant faerie, Iris.

The witch asked them why they wanted her to cast the spell, and they told her that she need not know their reason, and to take their offering as the price. The witch ignored their gems, and in return replied,

"It is not enough."

The princess again went out into the world and told their story, this time to the oceans and brooks and pools. They all wept, and in return the princess and her paramour had sapphires with which to pay the old witch. She again asked why they wanted the spell, and again the lovers refused to give her a reason. The witch declined once more and said,

"It is not enough."

So, a third time the princess went out into the world and told their sad tale. Her listeners, the sun and the moon, also wept in their sympathy, and their tears hardened into the gem most prized by mortal beings: diamonds. Now the King had caught wind of his daughter's strange travels, and this time when she left the castle at dusk, he followed her to the hut where the witch Iris dwelt. He saw as his daughter and her lover asked her to make them mortal, and offered her all they had, the diamonds. Hearing their plea, he burst in the door, intent on killing both Derrick and Iris for their supposed treachery. Lily begged her father not to kill her one true love. Hearing this, the witch cried out,

"Foolish children! If you had told me that love was your reason, I would have cast the spell in an instant! Your foolishness has cost all our lives, as well as your love! As punishment, I cast you out of this place, to a place between and yet beyond the fae realm and the mortal realm. You each shall wander alone, devoid of all companionship and love!"

Then she cast her spell.

When mortals find true love three,

Only then will you be free.

The King desperately tried to deflect her spell, but it was too late, and it was cast. Lily and Derrick, ripped from each other's arms and thrown upon the earth, were cursed to wander forever, alone and loveless, until they helped three pairs of destined couples find true love. It was a hopeless situation, for it is often said that mortal man does not know the wonders of true love, and will be blind to it until it is too late.

It all changed three hundred years later. Eyes of limitless blue, sparkling with now forgotten tears, widened as the owner now felt the sign she had only dreamed would actually come.

"They're here..."