The Prince and the Clown

Chapter One: The Contest

Author's Comments: Oh no! Fear the long long section that I made into history! I really didn't want it to be that long, and even shortened it a bit from what it originally was. I know I re-use words far too much xP Forgive me for that! Well though it's not that of an original idea or anything, please give it a chance.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned the rights to Kingdom Hearts! But the fates are not kind, and I'm just stuck here writing fanfiction.

About the rating: I intend to have this fic continue on to be...let's just say a bit more graphic xD But for the first few chapters, the rating is all for Cid's potty mouth I tell you.

Without further ado, on to the fic!

- - - - - -

As all fairy tales start, once upon a time there was a great kingdom. All the citizens worked together to make this kingdom a magnificent and lavishly decorated empire. However, the more the population rose, the more the citizens began to bicker amongst each other. It was inevitable that the once wondrous place would fall and break apart. There was no "And they lived happily ever after" in this story, and the citizens all went their own way, creating the five kingdoms that now thrive in an ever-changing world.

Destati, the original kingdom, had regressed some but retained its beauty. It was located south of the vast ocean that separated the kingdoms of the north from those of the south. Destati was the center of commerce and entertainment in its area, attracting many travelers from the two kingdoms beside it. The southeast kingdom was the second to be built and established. Though the last southern kingdom was built a few years after the southeast one, they were named at the same time. The southeast was named Dawn and the southwest became Twilight. Dawn was famous for their sports and various other competitions while Twilight was known for its scholars. At first it was very peaceful for all three kingdoms. They traded with each other, exchanged ideas, and were overall happy. That is, until the kingdoms of the north made their appearance.

None knew how they had started up, or why. All that the residents of Dawn, Destati, and Twilight knew was that Kingdom Wverneas and Hollow Bastion did not come entirely in peace. That would make everything far too perfect. The northern lands had their eyes set on one goal- to recreate a single large empire that would rule the land and sea without any outside power interfering. It was also said that they would do anything and make any sacrifice to achieve their twisted goal. With that the ambassador of Hollow Bastion and Wverneas returned to his lands across the sea on a giant armored ship, leaving everyone speechless.

To face this new threat, Dawn, Destati, and Twilight allied. Despite the tough words said to them, the north didn't even stir. After years and years of tight security and cautious citizens, Destati's king withdrew his order to constantly have men on guard. When no attacks came, Twilight and Dawn did the same. Things returned to normal and the three kingdoms began to flourish once more.

Many years later each kingdom produced an heir. The prince of Destati, Riku, was the most popular of the three new princes. He was lean and well muscled, but not overly so. The thing that caught most of the female population's attention was his silky silver hair and striking aqua eyes. Where his eyes were received from the queen, his hair could not be explained. Though many had tried to get to know the handsome man, he would let very few into his heart. All the smiles he wore were fake, and he truely was unhappy all the time. The king knew this and so he made a contest to see who could make the ice prince smile. People even came from Dawn and Twilight to try and get a laugh out of him. Many attempts were made, but no one was successful. When the king was about to give up and call the contest off, a person was roughly shoved into the center of the performance area. It was a man in odd yellow and purple clothes with some bells on the collar. He had spiked brown hair that stood up in every direction and big sea blue eyes. Riku raised an eyebrow as the man sat there looking dumbfounded. The crowd of people muttered to each other, talking about the confused brunette.

"Who is that?" Riku asked his advisor who was standing next to him.

"That would be Sora your highness."

"Sora? Don't think I've ever met him."

This was of no surprise for the prince hardly ever went outside of the castle grounds. "He's a year younger than you and lost both of his parents a long time ago. Due to lack of financial support and education, the only job field available to him was the entertainment field."

"Entertainment field?"

"He's a clown," Leon put simply, watching as realization dawned on the man's face.

"Ah, I see." Now Riku focused back on Sora. He thought it was kind of cute the way that the boy (somehow 'boy' fit him better than 'man') looked around with a purely lost expression. The crowd that gathered to watch the contest began their normal taunting.

"What kid, can't think of something to do?"

"Does he even know where he is?"

"He always was worth nothing."

"Maybe he should just quit and become like his mother."

Riku frowned deeply. He never knew that his future kingdom's people were so...so corrupted really. The man watched Sora's face and studied the expression there carefully. Even if the boy was laughing as though the rude comments they made were some kind of joke, the silver haired prince knew that he must've felt really hurt.

"I'm sorry to have caused an interruption your highness," the clown apologized with practiced politeness. He gave a low bow, bells jingling quietly with this action.

"By all means," Riku replied smoothly, his eyes following the boy's every move,"do perform something."

Sora straightened and blinked twice. His mouth was working but his voice sure as hell wasn't. The king who sat beside Riku gave a nod of approval, urging Sora to do tricks, dance, sing, anything...of which he did all three in the end. His tricks were mediocore and nothing new to Riku. His dancing however was nothing short of spectacular. Even the audience was in awe as he finished up with a complicated step and a gentle shake of his tamberine. The crowd was actually going to clap for him, but Sora just had to start the singing. Now nothing was wrong with the clown's voice really. The problem was all in his ears- the boy was absolutely positively tone-deaf. Riku nearly swore out loud at the completely off key version of 'Under the Sea', a song made to go along with a story about a mermaid and her love above the ocean.

"It sounds...like a dying whale," Leon said, clearly not amused.

As the song ended and Sora grinned sheepishly, everyone wore the same look. Of course that look was one that seemed to say 'holy shit'. Some of the crowd was even left twitching slightly, Leon being one of them. The long silence was broken only by the cold hearted prince's outburst of laughter. It was a low, rich sound that Sora found to be more lovely than any fair maiden's singing.

"Well I believe that this contest is over then," the king announced while getting up,"I just wish it wouldn't have come to that."

The king and his attendants took their leave as the audience dispersed slowly, leaving an embarrassed Sora to mentally barrage himself. 'Stupid stupid stupid! Now everyone must think of me as a total fool, especially the prince!' Contrary to his beliefs, Riku actually stayed behind until it was pretty clear to approach the clown, a large smile on his lips.

"Sora?"

'Stupid stupid!' the boy kept repeating to himself in his mind, not taking any notice of the man that now called his name.

"Sora!" Riku tried again, louder this time.

"Huh?" he replied, finally realizing that someone was calling him. Then he noticed who was saying his name. "Oh I'm terribly sorry again. Just kind of drifted off, ehe. You know what I mean."

Riku's smile widened if at all possible. The clown really was adorable. "I have a proposition to make."

"A proposition? What's that? Can I eat it?" the round blue eyes widened in wonderment.

"No silly. It's like a proposal." Riku actually had to resist a sudden urge he had to ruffle the spiked hair that didn't even move in the light breeze.

"Oh...," Sora gave a cute pout at the mention that it wasn't something to eat. He gave another courteous bow to the older man. "I would gladly do anything to serve you, your highness."

"Anything?" the prince's eyes gleamed with a predatory look that caused the clown to suddenly become flustered. And yet what could he say?

"As far as I am capable."

"Right. Then in exchange for a more luxurious life at the castle...," Sora's eyebrow quirked. A life at the castle? He'd give anything for that,"would you become my personal jester and attendant?" He let the words sink in, holding back a snicker as the boy's jaw slightly dropped as he stared unbelievingly at the prince.

"Y-your personal jester...and attendant?"

"Yes, that is what I said. Of course you will be given pay as well."

Sora was faced with an extremely hard decision. Sure it'd be really awkward to become Prince Riku's own jester and attendant since they were both male. The only other relationship he heard of that came even close to what this man was offering was between the prince of Twilight and his advisor. On the other hand though, his life could do a total flip. No more eating one meal a day and sleeping next to animals. No more being teased by all of those who knew him. Most of all, no more being alone. If he said no, who knows what would happen to him. Very few dared to defy the royal family of Destati. Sora's eyebrows knit together as he went over the consequences of saying yes or no. Meanwhile the prince calmly waited for an answer. Moments passed by and the clown finally came to a decision. He met Riku's gaze bodly, and the prince already knew the answer from the look he received.

"I..."

- - - - - -

At the same time that Sora was faced with a decision, so was another boy. Roxas stood, glaring daggers at the soaking man in front of him. 'To kill or not to kill...' the boy asked himself.

"Aw Roxas,"the soaking figure complained loudly,"I was just having fun. It's way too hot and-"

"So you had to jump into the castle's fountain!"

"Exactly! You understand me, right?" Green eyes pleaded with Roxas' blue ones.

"Just go take a shower and change," the boy said, sighing in frustration. The red head gave him a quick hug before prancing- yes, prancing- into the large bathroom, humming a song to himself happily. "And thanks Tifa."

The girl that sat on the bed behind Roxas gave him a grin. "No prob. I was horrified when I saw Prince Axel jumping around in there, screaming his head off like a crazy man. He wouldn't get out at first, so I just kind of plucked him out of there and dragged him back. I'm afraid I might've been a bit too rough though."

"Don't worry about it," the blond replied, waving a hand at Tifa,"Any scratches or bruises he got, he deserves them."

"OW! HOLY SON OF A..." Axel's muffled voice was still quite loud as it drifted through the locked wooden door.

Roxas couldn't help but give a slight smirk. "Looks like he found some already."

The yells and string of curses that continued on and on eventually caused Tifa to take her leave. She had a feeling that the prince wouldn't be too happy with her once he got out. Roxas endured all the ear retching yelling and complaining until Axel came out. He only wore a towel, allowing Roxas to measure the damage dealt to the otherwise flawless skin. There were numerous scratches that littered his torso and one large nasty bruise in the shape of a hand on his shoulder.

"Well well. We won't be jumping into any more fountains now, will we?" Roxas crossed his arms and took Tifa's previous seat.

"No sir," came the sullen reply. Axel lay down next to his advisor, a small sniff escaping him. Whether it was from the pain or his hurt pride, Roxas didn't know. He just gave a sigh and retrieved a tube of herbal salve that he used to cure a variety of wounds. He slowly rubbed some of the smelly gel on the prince's bigger wounds, making sure that he didn't cause him any avoidable pain. Though every now and then the red head's hand would clench when Roxas was cleaning a deep wound, the man never once cried out or complained.

"I wish you'd act more like a true prince sometimes," the boy muttered half-heartedly.

"Do you really?"

The question caught him off guard. He paused and found himself unable to answer for quite some time. The tone that Axel used...the man was being serious. Roxas thought hard about his answer, knowing that Axel wouldn't drop the subject.

"Roxas?" Axel asked, turning his head to the side to glance at the silent boy.

Advisor and prince locked eyes as Roxas set the tube down on a drawer that was near. Axel then winced as he was gathered into a hug, his wounds protesting to the pressure.

"No. You're fine the way you are," the boy said into Axel's chest, earning him a smile. That smile quickly turned into a grimace though as the brince began to shake and scream as though in pain.

"Axel! Axel, what's wrong!" Roxas drew back, a greatly worried look on his face.

The prince opened an eye that was preciously shut tight as he stuck out his tongue. "Just kidding!"

"...," the blond suddenly turned a bright crimson,"YOU ASS!"

Before he could say something to calm down his advisor, Axel was being beat on by a pillow that Roxas had grabbed.

"Ow, that really does hurt!" the prince informed him, grabbing onto another pillow and raising it in defense.

"I don't care!"

A rather large pillow fight commenced, each man using any trick and tactic he could think of. Their laughter echoed from the room out into the empty halls, drawing many maids to watch in dismay.

"You two are cleaning up this mess you know," one maid announced loudly.

"What!" Roxas and Axel stopped their fighting to find feathers all over the room. Not an inch was clean and many pillow cases fell to the floor.

"Better get started." With that the on lookers left, not wanting to be 'recruited' into cleaning up the room.

The pair looked at each other and groaned loudly, but a grin remained on their face. It was worth the hours they'd spend cleaning up afterwards.

The Contest : Fin

- - - - - -

End ranting: Yes, I just bash Axel. He's supposed to be the future king of the "smart" kingdom too! Guess that's why he has Roxas. Even then, somehow I can see Axel messing -everything- up. I just can't help it! I do love him though, don't get me wrong. Well, R&R to let me have some insight of how it was! The later chapters will probably be longer as this one was supposed to be. Thanks for reading everyone! -Hands out cookies to the readers and extra to the reviewers- And thank you for pointing out that my grammar absolutely sucks xD This is what happens when I write at night argh. -Points at typo- Is that even a word! Anywhose, it should be a little better now!