A.N- I apologise greatly for my long absence. I was a little premature in releasing this fiction before I had the story fully set. I have re-edited this chapter and added more information. So if you read this chapter before, please read it again in order to fully understand the story.

I have 'Matsuda' as his first name, simply because not many will recongise 'Touta' as being the bumbling character we know and love.

For those new to the story, this will feature a number of characters, including Misa, Mikami, Light and L in main roles.

Pairings- eventual Light/L, Misa/Light one sided, Misa/Matsuda one sided, Misa/Mikami one sided, Light/Takada one sided.

The story is set but pairings are not, so feel free to let me know who you would like to see get with who at any point.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Once upon a time there was a young farmhand called Matsuda. However, for reasons that should be obvious, everyone called him 'Simple Matsuda.'

Poor Matsuda!

He so badly wanted to be clever and dashing like the Princes at the local castle! Prince Light and Prince Mikami would ride down through the village on their large stallions; Light's was a chestnut brown and Mikami's was jet-black. They were magnificent beats, thundering down on pebbled pathways so hard that they seemed to shake the floor; they snorted smoke from their nostrils so that the people of the surrounding villagers, superstitious and gossipy as they were, would tell stories of how the two beasts had once been dragons and only the great Princes had the strength, charisma and intelligence to tame they monsters and charm them into being beasts of burden. All the townspeople would swoon and sigh at the majestic beauty of the Princes; tales of their heroic acts would entertain the villagers during the coldest winter evenings.

(The Princes also had a younger sister, but she was slightly plainer than they were, and did nothing of interest, so no one spoke or remembered her.)

The most heroic thing Matsuda had ever done was chased off a spider that frightened his mother. Even ordinary, daily tasks seemed to cause Matsuda trouble. He always spilt the milk, no matter how carefully he tried to milk Sunflower (their cow) and carried the bucket. Whenever he went to collect the eggs he would send the hens into a nervous panic, he often would get attacked by Daddy Rooster, and often would step on at least four eggs. He would accidentally make the horses stampede, pull out herbs and carrots instead of weeds, fall asleep in the fields instead of chasing away crows and once managed to drug all the occupants at the farmhouse by selecting hallucinatory mushrooms instead of the regular ones. Matsuda would barely make it through the day without getting a sound beating or a box around the ears by at least one exasperated person. And it seemed only to serve to make him even more stupid.

However, despite this flaw, Matsuda was kind and good hearted. He always managed to stay in some kind of work, because no one had the heart to leave him jobless and destitute. And Matsuda himself was a pretty happy man; as long as he had food, drink, a warm place to sleep and good friends, he was satisfied with his life.

However, one day, that all changed.

The princes Light and Mikami had gotten to the marrying age. They sent out invitations to all the beautiful women and princesses around the known world. The villagers came out of the shops, and fields and houses to watch the display of gorgeous females upon their horses and in their lavish carriages as they passed by towards the castle. One young woman in particular caught Matsuda's eye.

Her hair was silken gold locks; her eyes a large, sapphire blue that always looked like they were laughing, each lip was a pink rose bud, her hands were small and dainty, her body was slender and lithe. Such fair features were rare in the region of Matsuda's home. Their Kingdom was full of dark skinned brunettes. Their bodies tended to be larger and more muscular, due to the good food that their bit of Earth offered up. Besides, winters were harsh, so to be of a stocky build was wise for survival; delicate creatures died. Even their royalty was not particularly genteel or fragile. The people of this Kingdom had two ways of dealing with those who were different; they either feared or hated them (such as the wild northern tribes of the ice lands) or they were loved and fantasised over. Matsuda felt his heart thundering in his chest so hard it hurt; who was this beautiful creature? And surely, surely, this feeling he had...surely it was TRUE LOVE?

From when he was young lad he had dreamed of having a beautiful girl like that fall in love with him! He had wished for it as fervently as he had wished he was a prince- dashing, inherently good, inherently brave and beautiful.

However, as soon as the feeling of joy had arrived, it quickly dissipated into a harsh reality. Matsuda was nothing but a simple farmhand. Even worse he was a simpleton! He wasn't even a good farmhand! He could not compete with the likes of Prince Mikami or Prince Light! And so with a heavy sigh, Matsuda walked away from the parades and cheering crowds; he was a simpleton, a lonely fool, and there was nothing he could do to change that...

xxXXxx

Meanwhile, in the Castle, much merrymaking was carrying on. In the great hall sat the Princes with their sister and father, surrounded by tables filled with hopeful women. In the centre of the hall, various acts were coming forward and entertaining the crowd of fops and posh toffs and royalty.

"I still do not think this is a good idea," said L tonelessly.

"Nonsense!" returned his Uncle Watari, the self titled Great Wizard of Fortune, "they have to be warned!"

Both men were dressed in shabby clothing, Uncle Watari's being a faded and ripped wizards robes and L's being a pair of trousers which were too short, a short sleeved top that had once been white, and several twigs and leaves meshed into his hair.

"I don't like cities and towns and crowds," he continued to whine to his uncle's frustration.

"You are too spoiled and self centred, we have to do this, it's our duty as citizens. All the faeries are waking up, think about it, faeries waking up, at the start of winter? It makes no sense. And then with the movements of the trolls underground and the season not changing as it should, everything is wrong. We need to tell them of the dreams, of the strangeness."

They had already managed to sneak into the castle thanks to his uncle's hypnotising spell. Inside they waited in the corridor with the other acts.

The host of the celebrations stepped into the hallway to announce the next act. "Alright," he ordered, "we need the juggling trio next."

"That's us!" called Watari, dragging his nephew with him into the great Hall before anyone could stop them.

The toffs and fops gasped as the odd pair stumbled into the centre arena.

Uncle Watari grinned and raised his arms gracefully as if to say 'we meant to do that!'

"Aren't these guys meant to be a trio of jugglers?" whispered Mikami to Light, but Light was too busy scowling at the disgusting mess which was L, how could anyone be caught in public looking like that? It was insufferable!

While Prince Light sat in silent rage at L's unkempt aesthetic, the said scruff bag began a shuffling dance while Watari began to cry out, "Oh King, you must hear our word, we come from the Wild Woods, the Haunted Forest of the Witch!" People gasped and recoiled back from L and Watari. "We come with grave news," Uncle Watari continued, "there have been signs in the woods and strange dreams plaguing the ones of us who are closely aligned to the spirit world. Calamity is at hand, this beautiful and calm kingdom is hurtling towards doom!"

As people began to panic and cry out, the King stood defiantly.

"Enough of this!" he commanded the old wizard. L stopped his odd dance. "I will not have you frightening my people nor my guests," he gestured at the various ladies who came to woo the Princes. "How dare you come here and cause a spectacle!"

"But the seers and witches..." started Watari only to be interrupted.

"I have long ceased to be taken in by foolish superstition." Light smiled up at his father, feeling proud that his dad was one of the few that stood up against the tyranny of the witches, who often terrified the people and bullied them into doing their will.

"It isn't a lie," said a soft voice. Everyone looked at L, his face as devoid of emotion as a sheet of ice. "We are not joking, we are not tricking you. Our warning is genuine. The disaster that awaits this Kingdom involves our kind as well. We will benefit from having it prevented. You must send all the foreign Princesses home," there were cries of offended outrage, but L continued regardless, "and your sons and daughter need to be kept indoors and away from windows at all times until the spring returns."

"Are you serious?" yelled Mikami, leaping to his feet, "we cannot stay indoors for that long. Spring isn't going to arrive for another three months!"

"I am being deadly serious," L fixed a dead, dark-eyed stare on Mikami, making him shrink back down into his chair. "If you go against us, it will be at your own peril. Do not say we didn't warn you."

At this, Watari grabbed a ball out of his cloak and dashed it onto the floor, making it explode dramatically. Billowing purple smoke with an acrid smell covered the two men, and by the time it cleared the two men had vanished.

There was a moment of silence before a few giggles broke out, partially from nerves and partially from relief.

"Please," the King Soichiro stood once more, "ignore the ramblings of a madman and his demon offspring, it was all nonsense. Princesses, feel free to stay as long as you wish. Our Kingdom is on good terms with everyone except the witches, they simply want to disrupt our good humour. On with the celebration!"

Everyone cheered and the festivities continued without further disruption late into the night.

xxXXxx

While the rich partied and feasted, lying on hay in a draughty barn, the young farm hand tossed and turned in restless angst. Try as he might, Matsuda just could not get the beautiful girl out of his mind. She was so alluring, her beautiful blue eyes an rosebud lips haunted his dreams, made him feel...strange...it was like no other feeling he had had before..

"I have to get to know her!" He declared to himself. "I know I'm not smart, or good looking, or dashing but I am determined. Tomorrow I shall go to the castle and see if I can get a job there, all to get closer to her."

With this promise in mind, Matsuda finally turned to his side and fell into the restful sleep of the innocent.

xxXXxx

At the same time, back in the Castle and away from the celebration, a young forgettable Princess named Sayu looked out into the night sky. Unlike Matsuda she was not at ease. She was bored and restless. She wished she had been born a boy because then she could leave the Castle like her brothers, and go play and hunt and fish with all the other men. But instead Fate had been cruel and made her a female, so she was stuck in the house, day by day, learning to darn and sew and knit and to take care of infants. And worst of all this was to be her life; constantly looking after the needs and comforts of somebody else, be it a husband or a child. She had watched as the various daughters of Lords and Ladies paraded around for her brothers, each female desperate for their attention and approval.

Sayu witnessed it all with cool disdain and inner dread. That would be her in just a few short years. Who would she parade in front of? a Prince of a foreign land, all of whom were rumoured to be wild, insane, power hungry and cruel? one of the local Lords who were all silly ninnies, giggling with high pitched sequel and having affairs with their milkmaids? Would she be as desperate, as needy as these girls, painted in rogue, smeared red lipstick that was also stuck on the teeth, blue eye shadow and a heavy head of made up curls? What if the Prince rejected her, and picked someone prettier; could she handle the shame of being sent back home, unwanted and useless; doomed to be an old maid? Worse still, what if he accepted her?

As the giant moon lit up the rolling hills and distant woodland, Princess Sayu turned to slightly happier thoughts and wondered what adventures lay out there, if only she were brave enough to stretch out her hand and grab the opportunity.

Biting the bottom of her lip she cautiously opened up her large, glass pane, French windows. "Do you dare?" the wind whispered to her, its surrisus weaving through the grass stalks and the trees into their branches, "do you dare?"

"I do," the Princess whispered in response and, as if in a dream, climbed out of her window, down the vines and out of the Castles confinements.

The last anyone saw of the Princess was a young girl, the daughter of the candlestick maker, who, when peeking, out of her bedroom window instead of sleeping, saw a female figure in a white dress run across the field into the pale caress of the milky moonlight. The little girl gasped, closed the curtains and pulled the blankets over her.

Surely, she had just seen a ghost!

Surely, she had just seen a dead girl.