Disclaimer: I was read fairy tales when I was little. Do you seriously think I could've invented and published them at that age?

A/N: This is my first shot at a fairy tale fan-fic. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess named Alexandra- or Alex, as she preferred. "I'd rather be a boy, anyway, they don't have to stand other men staring at them, asking when they'll be eligible for marriage," she'd snap at anyone who dared try and explain that Alex wasn't a ladylike enough name, and would throw the closest thing at hand at the unfortunate soul.

Alex, as you might've noticed, wasn't exactly your standard 'kind and feminine' fairy tale princess. You see, her parents, the king and queen, didn't have much money on account of having to pay for an enormous pet dragon belonging to a neighbouring prince that their eldest son had slayed, so they were only able to invite one fairy to dine with them and bless their child (they hoped, with riches surpassing all others or something useful like that).

Our fairy friend, whose name happened to be Tabina, upon observing the baby for a while, said she'd decided the kid wasn't really in great need of anything else, no matter what the king and queen said, gave the princess 'undamageable beauty' and told the disappointed parents not to worry and enjoy their daughter's childhood. The ambitious king and queen, however, were so thoroughly disgusted with Tabina's useless gift to their child they simply gave her a full-time nanny and determinedly ignored Alex from that day on.

Now, the nanny wasn't really interested in taking care of Alex either, ('swell, she's too much trouble, that 'un') so the little princess got used to doing whatever she wanted to from an early age. Most of all, she liked to tag along with one of her big brothers (only a year older than she) to all of his lessons, and so she learned sword fighting and archery and all that sort of princely stuff. And, since her beauty was undamageable, she never once got hurt while practicing with him.

One day, many years after, rumor came out that a giant snake had kidnapped a handsome young prince (named Arnold) from a neighboring kingdom. Of course, Alex just had to go and fight the snake to prove she was as good or even better that any other knight in her father's service (she'd been trying to join the army for a while now, though she was only fourteen), so she rode away from the palace (on his horse and, being very small-boned, wearing his armor, too) to find the prince and snake.

After a few days of hard riding, she came to a tall tower in the middle of the woods. Wrapped around it was a huge, smelly plant like ivy. Alex climbed up the vines (after plugging her nose with beeswax) to an open window, and lo and behold!, there was the prince Arnold, handsome as could be, taking a bubble bath with someone else whose face she couldn't really see. Alex, of course, was a bit confused with the scene, and crept just a bit closer to try and look at the other person.

Unfortunately for her, the floor was slippery with the other two having just thrown a lot of suds around, and she slipped all the way to the tub and fell in. Luckily, she wasn't hurt, just very embarrassed (undamageable beauty, remember?).

'Please accept by bost sidcere apologies, Pridce, I beadt to rescue you, but dot frob the bathtub, I bean, you were kiddapped by a giadt sdake, and I beadt to-,' she broke off, red-faced, realizing she had forgotten to unplug her nose. Idiot! 'So sorry, your Highness,' she repeated, more clearly now, after having removed the beeswax and introduced herself. 'I heard you'd been kidnapped by a snake so I came to rescue you, and I beg you to forgive the intrusion..."

'I accept your apologies, Princess, but you see, I wasn't kidnapped so I don't need rescuing,' explained Prince Arnold. 'This sweet lady here is the fairy Tabina, with whom I fell in love with and wished to marry,' he went on, pointing at his lovely companion, 'but you are so beautiful I think we'd have nicer babies together. I'm not really sure how time ages fairy people, but she is three thousand years old. And you did mean to rescue me, didn't you, so won't you give me your hand in marriage and come live with me to my kingdom so we can be happy ever after? I mean, it's only fair.'

At this point, both Alex and Tabina slapped the arrogant prince across the face as hard as they could, leaving him unconscious. They stared at each other for a moment, surprised by their actions, and laughed.

'Well... he deserved it, didn't he?' Alex smiled at the beautiful fairy as they changed into clean, dry clothes. 'I'm afraid he does. I hadn't realized he was so arrogant and superficial 'till now,' answered Tabina gravely. 'I thought he loved me.' Alex's smile slipped off her face, and was replaced by a frown, in sympathy for the fairy's disappointment. 'Well, I think it's better you found out now, before you married him. It would've been a lot worse, don't you think?' she tried to console Tabina.

'You're right, child. Thank you,' smiled the fairy, as she wiped away a tear. 'But come, let me look at you.' She took Alex's face into her soft, gentle hands. 'You did turn out very pretty, as I thought you would. It was I who gave you fairy powers when you were only a baby, did you know that?' 'No. Besides, I thought it was undamageable beauty that had been given to me,' answered Alex, very much surprised.

'Well, yes, that's what I told your parents. But I foresaw you could be so much more than the good little girl they wanted to exploit, so I put part of my power into you to protect you, and it shows the most in protecting you from being harmed. But you can be more than just a pretty face, child, so long as you put your mind to it. You can do anything you truly wish; you've already proved it by coming. I put spells around this tower, so no one could disturb us, but you made it here without trouble,' said Tabina.

'But all I've ever wanted is to prove myself so my father would appreciate me as he does my brothers, and I've never been able to do it,' said Alex unhappily. 'Then he doesn't deserve you.' The fairy's voice was severe. 'No father should neglect his daughter of his unconditional love, not because it's his duty, but because the ability to love is the most powerful gift we have all been given; fairy, creature and man alike, and should not be wasted or underestimated.'

Alex's face fell, determinedly defending her father in her thoughts even though she knew Tabina was right. In spite of herself, she'd always cared for her family while knowing they didn't give a damn about her. She'd just never wanted to truly realize it.

'I know you're disappointed, dear child, but disappointment is a part of life. You have to learn to go on and live with it. Don't let it defeat you, ever, do you understand me?" said the fairy. Alex nodded, a single, tiny nod that made her silky dark hair fall to hide her face, and the tears that struggled to escape her eyes. Tabina understood this, and wrapped a comforting arm around the girl's shoulders.

'I think the time is come that you receive your gift in full, child," Tabina began, tentatively. 'If you so wish- and I believe you do- you may come to Faery with me, so long as you promise to care, love, and protect it with your life and power as you would your home.' Alex stared at her, amazed. 'Will you accept?'

A/N: Tada! I hope you like my first chapter. On the updating thing, I warn those of you who haven't read me before, I'm incredibly slow (I take like, weeks), so bear me by! All comments and suggestions are highly appreciated- this includes flames, as the room where I keep my computer is c-c-cold!!!