Title: Prince Charming
Rating: K+
Character(s)/Pairing(s): AusHun
Summary: "Young ladies shouldn't run around covered in mud, you know?" Elizabeta huffed indignantly and answered, matter-of-factly: "I'm not a young lady." Roderich smiled softly and again, she forgot how to breathe properly. "That's right. You are a princess, Elizabeta. And a beautiful one."
Author's Notes: My first try on AusHun, which is a lovely pairing to me.
Disclaimer: I don't own this series in any way.

Elizabeta didn't believe in lost princesses, enchantment spells, True Love's Kiss and much less Prince Charming, or whatever it was that her friends constantly kept dreaming and sighing about. The mere idea of a happy ending was stupid, for one could never live absolutely happily ever after, and of that she was sure. Love was a faraway subject for her since the closest she had seen of it were in her old books filled with tales of brave knights, which she made a point to remind was different from fairy tales. The knights fought for their love while the princesses only waited. If she had to choose, she knew she would much rather fight for her love rather than just sit around.

The concept of herself falling in love was alien to her, since her future had been marked long since she was born: she would marry a German aristocrat to maintain her family's status as the only child of the Héderváry house and give him strong children. There was nothing she hated more than that mere idea. She didn't fancy herself a lady, much less a future noble spouse, and her only dreams were of adventures and excitement through her life.

Her friends were mostly too superficial or too young to understand her statements and she found company only in the seemingly Prussian royalty - or so he loved to claim - Gilbert Beilschmidt who spent more time sneaking out of his house than actually acting as a royal. They bounded over hating their status and being unable to leave their homes – Elizabeta being the only child and Gilbert having to tend for his dear young brother, Ludwig – but their dreams of going away and being heroes were always deep in their minds.

"Remember Liz, never get too attached or you'll never leave this place, got it? And if you don't, how will we become the awesome duo of cool and manly men?"

She always had the impression Gilbert thought she was a boy. It was understandable, since he never saw her in a dress or anything.

Her dreams collapsed when she turned thirteen. Her promised marriage was now a reality and her fiancée was moving to her house in an act of loyalty for both houses. Her parents and servants couldn't be happier. Elizabeta couldn't be more miserable. At thirteen she no longer believed in love, and marriage was only an obligation.

When her fiancée came, she made a point of sneaking out at every meeting and never looking at him in the face. Everyone had been quite confused, including Gilbert, who by then had given up on his plans of running away – he could still keep his awesomeness while tending to his younger brother at home, according to him.

She didn't want to face him. She didn't want to know him. She didn't want to like him.

Roderich Edelstein. The boy was the very definition of royalty, with his always neatly tucked in clothes and perfectly smooth hair – aside from that one curious lock of hair who always seemed to defy gravity – and the constant disdain in his face. Elizabeta could barely stand being near the boy and Gilbert made a point of never being in the same room as him. She didn't even know the color of his eyes. Everything was bound to fail, it seemed.

But everything changed. And it all started in that day.

The pre-teen had sneaked out of her violin lesson for the third time in the same month. Elizabeta threw her dress to the floor recklessly, and dressed in her favorite outfit: a long-sleeved white shirt covered by a warm brown vest with matching pants and boots. Whenever she dressed as such and tied her hair in a manly-manner, no one ever recognizer her, which was exactly what she wanted. The thought of looking like a boy was both appealing and a bit scary for her. The fact that she only needed to change her clothes and hair and no one would recognize her was depressing.

Elizabeta managed to leave the main building, but she had no intention of leaving the propriety, for it might take too long of her time and she knew by experience how difficult it would be to go back alone. Gilbert had been the one to help her go back, always keeping a watchful eye for any known person and showing her easier routes that lead to her house; which was, quite frankly, the only reason she ever brought him along. Honestly, she would much rather always sneak out alone. It was the nicest feeling she ever had, to go wherever she wanted and no one would know who she really was or what obligations she had to follow. She felt free.

Finding the best spot for hiding, the part still under construction of the furthest part of the garden which would be free from any royalty members, Elizabeta swiftly ran into the mud and kneeled down. Grimly, she realized the mud was very wet because of past days' rain, and her boots were soaked to the core. That would surely give her a cold and a reason for her mother to scold her yet again.

Before she could move, however, muffled voices were heard from the small building right next to her. It was the old house reserved for the garden keeper, which should be deserted until the restoration of the garden. Elizabeta only managed to quickly sit in the mud, dirtying all of her clothes, before one of the windows were opened. Luckily, she was out of whomever view it was view's. She quickly recognized the two voices coming from inside the building.

"Master Roderich, do you really desire to play in here? Please accept my apologies, but I don't believe this is the right place for someone of your level."

It was Mrs. Keppler, her old annoying Music teacher. The old lady was the strictest teacher from the place and she had quickly taken a like to the young Austrian because of his superior abilities, or so she would say.

Elizabeta huffed in annoyance and controlled herself not to speak. Her house was perfectly fine, especially the garden keeper's house, which was small but confortable and her favorite place of the whole property. And Roderich was going to play exactly what in there? There were no toys over there and the mere idea of the aristocratic pre-teen playing with dolls was hilarious, making her laugh quietly before she realized there was company right next to her. Hoping she held the laugh back quickly enough, Elizabeta stayed quiet.

"Master Roderich, did you hear something?"

Damn. She would be dead when her mother found out where she was and the states of her clothes, especially because she wasn't wearing a dress rather than manly clothes. As she started to think about lies to tell, but none that would be believable, she heard Roderich's voice.

"No, I haven't heard anything, Mrs. Keppler. Shall I play a bit for you before you leave?"

Was that Roderich, the annoying royalty, who had just defended her and told Mrs. Keppler, to leave? The little kiss ass – which he obviously was as far as she was concerned – going against a teacher? Elizabeta had to restrain the urge to get up and watch that scene, which would be in a most definitely tense atmosphere and dare she say, amazingly interesting. But then she returned to one of her first questions: play what? The garden keeper's house wasn't known for having any musical instruments besides the flute – which was portable enough – and…

And the piano.

Just as the words came to her mind, soft musical notes began. Everything that was left on her mind disappeared completely and all she did was rest her head closer to the building's wall to hear the song closely. She never paid any attention to Music class, so she didn't know which song was being played, but she knew she had heard it at least once. Normally she would just listen politely for a few minutes and abruptly leave since the very long lengths of Symphonies and other songs were too long for her to stay listening, but this was different. The way Roderich played was hypnotizing and she couldn't help be dragged by the music. Every high and low notes, every pause, everything controlled her breath and her ears were now glued to the wall. Not for the first time, her emotions took charge and she risked to peak at the window.

At that exact second, she couldn't breathe.

Roderich stopped being the annoying boy he always seemed to be and every flaw of his being had been completely forgotten by her. She didn't know if it was the combination of the song, the teacher's amazed face or Roderich's serious yet still pretty face – wait, Elizabeta didn't mean to say still… or pretty – or just the sheer fact that he was an amazing player, but her opinion of him had definitely changed at that fateful moment.

Roderich, regardless of how boring he could be sometimes, also had a passion. While her passion had been knight stories and duels, his had been art and music. Both of them spent hours of their days driven by that special something they found in pleasant activities and also suffered from being far from their same-gender peers while they were admired by the opposite-sex ones – something Elizabeta would eventually find much more annoying than anything else as they aged and Roderich started gaining even more attention from other young ladies – then she realized that they were the same type of people, no matter what anyone else – including her - thought.

The teacher left the building and after waiting for a few minutes, Elizabeta decided to leave before anyone saw her, even if she wanted to say a bit more. She was so lost in thought after her epiphany, Elizabeta didn't realize there weren't any song notes being played and therefore, the voice that called her surprised her deeply. The fact she had been thinking about the owner of the voice didn't help matters and as she turned to face the young aristocrat, with butterflies in her stomach and blushing madly, she could only keep an embarrassed look on her face.

Roderich was leaning on the window frame while – was she seeing it correctly? – smirking at her.

"Young ladies shouldn't run around covered in mud, you know?"

Elizabeta huffed indignantly and answered, matter-of-factly: "I'm not a young lady."

Roderich smiled softly and again, she forgot how to breathe properly.

"That's right. You are a princess, Elizabeta. And a beautiful one."

Was he insane? He was the prince here!

She would later deny she ever had any reaction to that comment; much less brush brightly like Roderich always had pleasure in reminding her.

Later on she would realize that was the day she fell in love with Roderich. The Austrian, however, always stated he had fallen in love by first sight and the feeling only became stronger with time. Unknown to many people, Roderich was quite the romantic.

From that day on, everything changed. She appreciated the aristocrat's company and both started to lean many things from each other: she would be keen on learning about music theory and always eager to listen to Roderich play, while he would listen to her tales of brave knights and attend all of her duel practices with Gilbert, who finally started to like or at least accept him as he started to hang out with other two noblemen, a Spanish prince and a French marquis.

Let it be noted that Elizabeta still didn't believe in Prince Charming or whatever it was that her friends constantly kept dreaming and sighing about, but if there was ever someone near the concept of a Prince Charming, it would have to be Roderich.

When they both became adults, they were promised to marriage and different to her childhood's beliefs, she was more than happy to accept him, especially after Roderich made his own version of a proposal, which involved candle lights, flowers, swords and music. Their marriage wasn't an artificial one and they both loved each other very much, regardless of the obstacles life threw at them, they stayed together. And that was the closest thing she could think of for a happy ending.

Author's Notes: AusHun is my favorite combination of PruHunAus and I just wanted to write a short story for them, even if it isn't for the poll. Hungary/Elizabeta is my favorite female character of the series, because of her attitude and strength. For me, this pairing is the closest thing to a realistic fairy tale I've ever seen and whenever possible, I like to make that comparison. With time, I plan to write more about these two, and who knows, even more historically inclined stories as well. The side story from Gilbert's point of view is in my profile, named But That's Okay.

Reviews help me reach my happy ending as well,

Fieldings