OF DRAGONS, OF PRINCES, AND OF PRINCESSES
Once Upon A Time…
No, scratch that.
There once was a princess, who was so utterly pathetic that she managed to get captured by a dragon. The princess's twin brother , upset by the kidnapping of his precious sibling, let it be known throughout all his kingdom and the neighboring kingdoms that he who should save the princess from the evil dragon, would earn her hand in marriage. And not only would he who saved the princess win her hand, he would also earn the chance to ask of the twin siblings' fairy godmother any wish he should want.
One problem.
The princess? Yeah, not so much a princess as a prince. Something that was leaving Prince Kyo absolutely and utterly confused.
"I slayed a dragon," Prince Kyo stated, eyes narrowed as he stared at the 'fair maiden'.
'Princess' Kaoru rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know. You've only told me like a thousand times. I even saw you do it."
"I slayed a dragon," repeated the older redhead, pointing back at the smoking corpse behind him, laying in the cave. "I killed a friggin' dragon. A DRAGON."
"And you did such a good job too," deadpanned the princess.
"DRAGON!"
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"You know, this isn't how things are done. I mean, come on, stupid Yuki actually killed a dragon of his own and got to marry a princess. …although I have my doubts about her, seeing as Machi likes throwing crap around," Kyo mumbled to himself. He paused, then shrugged his shoulders, and swiped at the heavy branches that were blocking his way with his sword. "Never the less, if that wussy prince can do it, why the hell am I having such a hard time with it?"
"You know, talking to yourself is a sign of insanity," Kaoru sing-said, ducking under branches as he followed Kyo. He only tripped once or twice in his dress. Really.
"You know, guys who go around wearing dresses and tiaras are considered insane," retorted 'prince charming' with a smartass smile.
"…touché."
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They'd been walking back to civilization for a couple of hours now. Kyo had resorted to clenching his teeth as he listened to Kaoru complain about all the rocks, the trees, the dirt, etc. etc…. Well, the princess sure acted like a princess. And that was beginning to drive Kyo INSANE.
"Why couldn't you have brought a horse? Or a carriage? You know, this is cruel and unusual punishment," grumbled Kaoru, stepping wide around a puddle of mud. He tripped on a twig and just barely stabled himself before he went face first. "Stupid shoes!"
Kyo sighed. "Maybe if you got rid of the high heels?"
"ARE YOU CRAZY?! AND GET MY FEET DIRTY?!"
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"It's just not the way things are done, you know?"
"Mhmm."
"Okay… I slay dragons and save the princess. You… Hold on, you're sure you're a princess?"
"Mom always wanted a daughter. Instead… Well."
"She got twin boys and decided to make one cross-dress?"
"You should meet my fairy godmother."
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Kyo sighed. "This could have been a lot worse."
Having abandoned his shoes ages ago, Kaoru looked up at Kyo curiously. "How?"
"There could have been an evil wizard involved. You could have ended up a swan and I could have ended up as a bear or something. …not that it would have been very effective, I'm already cursed."
Stepping carefully over a log, the 'princess' looked confusedly up at his 'prince charming'. "Already cursed? You? You don't look cursed."
"Let's just say it's a good thing that you weren't a actual girl. It would have been a little hard for a cat to defeat a dragon. Really hard."
"I never did like the smell of singed hair."
"I never liked impersonating pancakes myself."
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"So… What's it like in a dress?"
"Itchy."
"Ah."
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"This isn't as bad as I thought it'd be," Kyo mused to himself, throwing another log into the fire. He shifted the other logs already burning around with a stick, before tossing that in too. "I mean, seriously, it could have been a lot worse."
Kaoru hummed his agreement, pulling the overcoat Kyo had been wearing tighter around himself. His dress was puffy as hell, but he was wearing an off-shoulder one, so he was feeling a little cold. Who knew Kyo was gentleman enough to offer his coat?
He took a deep breath, then started to cough when he caught a rank smell. Kaoru's hands flew to his nose and mouth, covering them. "Oh god! That smell!"
Kyo gave Kaoru a confused look before he started to sniff to catch whatever the scent was. He gagged when he did. "You know… It got worse."
"What do you mean," Kaoru asked uneasily when he noticed an odd twinkle in the older redhead's eyes.
"You, my dear 'princess'," started Kyo, a mischievous smirk on his face, "Are in need of a bath."
Gapping, Kaoru was about to protest when he realized that the smell was coming from himself. He blushed. "Um… It has been a week or two since the dragon captured me. And I didn't exactly have time for a bath or anything."
"Then Puff must not of had a sense of smell."
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"Kaoru!"
The young redhead spun around to face where the call had come from. His golden-brown eyes glowed when they saw a brunette girl flying towards him. "Haruhi!"
With a squeal, Kaoru gathered up his dress about him and rushed towards Haruhi. Once they were within range of each other they hugged tightly. Both were babbling and patting each other down, making sure they were really there.
Kyo simply raised an eyebrow and made his way into the courtyard of the Hitachiin Castle. He observed the 'princess' and what appeared to be a fairy prattle on to each other. When he saw a redhead that looked identical to the one he had previously rescued, Kyo felt his teeth clenching. Not even thinking about it, he unsheathed his sword, marching towards the grinning redhead that was heading towards him with a hand held out.
"Friend! Thank you for sav- What are you doing with that sword?"
"You lying reject from hell," bellowed Kyo running after Kaoru's twin brother. "YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT CROSS-DRESSING!"
"Ack," squeaked Prince Hikaru. …in a completely manly way. He then proceeded to run.
From the corner of the courtyard that they were standing in, Haruhi and Kaoru watched the spectacle that was the two princes; one with a big sword chasing another one around screaming like a girl. The pair shook their heads. When Hikaru started to climb up a tree in a attempt to get away from Kyo, they both rolled their eyes.
Didn't work of course, because Kyo followed him while hissing all the while.
"So," started Haruhi, her wings fluttering in surprise when Hikaru let out a bloodcurdling scream. "So that's the prince that saved you from the dragon?"
Kaoru nodded. "Yep."
"Ah. …he's cute."
"Yep," responded Kaoru, but he started blushing as soon as he realized what he said.
Haruhi gave Kaoru a smirk, her warm honey-brown eyes glowing in amusement as she looked slyly at the 'princess'. She hummed thoughtfully, wrapping her arm around the other's shoulders. "Kaoru… Is there something you want to tell your fairy godmother?"
"Er… N-not particularly, no," Kaoru stuttered, blushing even brighter.
"Uh huh."
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After his fairy godmother had nursed his cuts and bruises and Kaoru was allowed a bath and a change of clothes, Prince Hikaru of the Hitachiin Kingdom had called Prince Kyo of the Sohma Kingdom to an audience. He pout- Er, he looked very manly like down at the older redhead. Said older redhead was currently giving Hikaru the evil-eye.
Haruhi sighed. "Will you both just grow up?"
Sitting daintily next to his brother, Kaoru winced when twin glares were focused on his best friend. He sighed in relief when all that happened was that Haruhi returned the glare and waved her wand menacingly at the pair. It was kind of funny watching two guys chicken out because a girl was waving a magic stick at them.
Clearing his throat, Hikaru smiled down at Kyo, though he twitched when he did. "Prince Kyo, you have saved my sis- Er, my brother. I realize that I gave false information pertaining to my royal sibling. Seeing as I lied to you, I will not make you marry him. I will give you instead a part of my kingdom, as well as the original promise of a wish from our fairy godmother."
"Which I never agreed to," grumbled said fairy godmother in a whisper to Kaoru.
Kaoru hid a grin, but he quickly started to frown when he realized what his brother said to Kyo. …now they weren't going to get married? He was starting to get used to the idea and he had already admitted to Haruhi that he thought the other cute. Kaoru was feeling a little disappointed.
So was Kyo for that matter…
"Listen," Kyo started hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I know I could really use that wish, and the land sounds nice, but…"
"But," asked Hikaru.
From where they both sat, Haruhi and Kaoru looked just as curiously at Kyo.
Kyo took a deep breath. His eyes moved to look at Kaoru's, not turning away at all. "I'd rather marry Kaoru."
"W-what," stuttered Kaoru, blushing now. "But Kyo! Your curse! If you wished Haruhi to get rid of it, you'd be free to marry any girl you wanted and wouldn't have to worry about transforming!"
Shrugging, Kyo smiled at Kaoru, arching a eyebrow. "What can I say? You're the only princess for me."
Blushing really bright now, and ignoring his brother's slack jawed look and Haruhi's smug smile, Kaoru stood up. He walked down to Kyo and took the other's hands in his own, smiling shyly. "My prince charming…"
Kyo snorted. "Trust me, I'm not really charming. But for you… Well, I think I could do 'charming'."
"Kyo," Kaoru sighed, leaning into the other.
From where she was still sitting, Haruhi turned to Hikaru with a superior look on her face. "See? I told you they'd want to get married."
Grumbling, Hikaru reached into his pocket and handed Haruhi a gold piece.
…which Kaoru saw.
"OH MY GOD! YOU WERE BETTING ON MY LOVE LIFE?!"
Kyo gave Haruhi a nervous look as he watched his new fiancé start to chase his twin around the room. "Um… Is it too late to have second thoughts?"
Haruhi grinned, patting the prince on the shoulder. "You're stuck with us now."
And They Lived Happily Ever After.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU HIKARU!"
No, scratch that.
They… managed.