Author's Note: Well hello there guys, I'm back I promise. I've come up with a new story that I have decided to actually write. There are some other stories swirling in my head that aren't Shrek related and I might write them if I find the motivation to do so. Anyway, so ya I don't know if I will ever finish the other story I have of Harold and Lillian because I'm just not really sure how to continue it and finish it. But I should be able to finish this story, I've already planned the story out about halfway.

Before They Were Royalty

The sun was shining down brightly onto the kingdom of Vinera as the birds flew around above the subjects below who were going about their daily business. The birds continued to fly and made their way up to the beautiful castle that was up on the hill. Standing next to the main stairs leading up to the entrance was a young couple talking quietly to one another. One, the girl, had long blonde hair and bright grey eyes that held a storm of emotion in them and had a pink dress on that accented her figure perfectly. This girl was the princess of Vinera, her name was Lillian and she was holding her partner's hand with a comforting grip. The young man she was with was the lost prince of a neighboring kingdom, Far Far Away. His name was Harold and he had grown up to be a rather dashing young man. He had neatly combed darkish brown hair and was wearing black pants with brown boots and a plain collared white shirt with a belt around the middle. His beautiful light brown eyes moved around until they connected with the loving look of Lillian's grey orbs.

"I don't know about this Lily, what if they don't believe me?" The young prince asked with a worried look.

"But they will Harold, I know they will. There's no reason for them not to." She squeezed his hand gently and intertwined their fingers together. Harold was worried that Lillian's parents wouldn't believe his story. And the problem with his story is that, as mentioned before, he was the lost prince from Far Far Away. See when Harold was about 12 he went on a hunting trip with his own father and wandered off from him. He was exploring around the forest when he happened upon an old witch. Not knowing she was a witch he accidentally insulted the hag and in anger, she turned the young boy into a frog. Harold didn't know what to do so he ran away as far away as his little froggy legs could carry him. He couldn't go back home, no one would believe him and he'd more than likely be killed before he even reached the entrance to the castle. He had been missing for nearly nine years, he was almost 21 now and the girl next to him had finally broken his curse. The kiss of true love was what finally changed him back and he for sure loved Lillian.

"Now come on, they're going to love you just like I do." The young princess started to pull Harold toward the door.

"I suppose so." He said with a sigh as he followed the blonde up into the castle. They stayed close to each other as Lillian led him into the sitting room. There were her parents, King Phillip and Queen Alice, sitting there talking with one another about decisions and things going on in their kingdom. Harold bit his lip nervously as the two royals looked up to see their daughter with a young man they had never seen before.

"Hello Darling, who is this?" The Queen asked her daughter as they stood up.

"This is Harold, mother." She smiled at the young prince as she wrapped her hand around his bicep of his offered arm. He bowed politely to the King and Queen.

"Hello your majesty, it's a pleasure to meet you both." He offered a soft smile. The King and Queen offered their own polite greetings to the young man.

"It's nice to meet you too, but um well just exactly who are you?" King Phillip asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well that's the thing I suppose, I'm Harold but um well I'm Prince Harold… from Far Far Away." He held his chin up proudly and with confidence.

"Prince Harold?" Queen Alice said with a tone of disbelief. "But the Prince of Far Far Away has been missing for years. We are friends with the King and Queen of that kingdom and they've always said he was lost long ago."

"Yes I know, but I swear it's me. I really am the Prince," He ran a hand through his hair. He then explained his story and what had happened with the witch.

"I have heard of that witch casting curses on people in the past so it is plausible I suppose," The King agreed with the story. "But how did you come about becoming human again?" He asked curiously.

"Well I can thank your daughter here for that," He smiled lovingly at the blonde on his arm and she smiled shyly back. "You see as a frog I came across your lily pond and decided to call it home for a while. One day Lillian was playing with her golden ball and it rolled into the pond. I offered to get it for her since I saw that she was so saddened by the loss. I retrieved it and really we just sort of became friends after that. She would come down to the pond and we would talk for hours," Harold said with a smile. "After a few months I began to realize that I had fallen for the beautiful princess and not being able to think of any other solution, I made my way to the Fairy Godmother."

"He was gone for nearly a month," Lillian said with a slight frown.

"It's a long journey for a small creature such as a frog," He said bashfully. "However I did return, the Fairy Godmother gave me a potion to drink. She said if I retrieved true loves kiss in three days' time after I had drunken it then I would transform back into a human. So when I returned to the pond I drunk the potion and waited honestly," He shrugged. "The first two days were worrisome because Lillian had not come down to the pond."

"I thought he had left so I didn't bother visiting since he had been gone for so long. But on the third day I had a feeling that I should just go down to look around, Harold had quickly become my best friend and somehow I had ended up falling for a frog," She giggled slightly. The older royals listened attentively. The whole story was making sense honestly, but they still felt doubtful.

"I was able to retrieve that kiss from your daughter and it turned me back into a human. That's basically the whole story," He smiled softly at the two rulers. Phillip and Alice looked on with soft smiles at the young couple. Even though they were doubtful of Harold being the real prince it was still obvious that the two were very much in love.

"I have my doubts Harold," The King stated and the prince nodded in understanding. "Can you prove to me that you're the real prince from Far Far Away?" He raised an eyebrow at Harold.

"I can but I'm not really sure how to do so," He furrowed his brow as he tried to think of a way to prove himself to the King. He remembered coming here a few times with his parents when he was young.

"I came here with my own parents when I was young once or twice, I remember that I climbed the tree just outside the gate and I lost my footing and fell to the ground. I received a scar from it and I know you saw it," He rolled his sleeve up slightly to reveal the scar that ran from the crook of his elbow to about the middle of his forearm. Phillip and Alice shared a look as they did remember the small boy falling from that tree and calling for his parents. They then looked back to the young man and both decided that this really was Prince Harold, you can tell in his eyes. The light brown held a familiarity to them.

"It really is you, I remember that little boy well," The King said fondly with a smile. Harold offered a shy smile back.

"Thank you sir… I would like to ask you something if you don't mind," He said with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course your highness, feel free to ask anything," The King replied.

"Um… well I would like to ask permission from you if I could have your daughter's hand in marriage," He asked nervously yet with a lace of confidence in his tone as he looked at the blonde lovingly. Lillian stared up into his brown orbs with a smile.

"I think I could allow that to happen," The King replied with a small smirk upon his lips and the Queen nodded agreeing whole heartedly. Lillian squealed excitedly and threw herself into Harold's strong arms. He held her tightly and their lips connected gently for a few moments. Phillip and Alice smiled softly to themselves at the sight of the young couple.

"Well if it's ok with you your highness, we would gladly have you stay here so you can rest up before you try to head back to your own kingdom for a few days," Phillip offered to the young prince. Harold looked over at the King as he held Lillian close.

"That sounds like a good idea to me," Harold smiled brightly as he intertwined his fingers together with Lillian's.

~Meanwhile~

Shrek and the gang had been messing around with some old artifacts from the Fairy Godmother's old cottage when they happened upon something that threw Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, and Puss through a portal. They all landed on the ground with grunts coming from all four. They looked around to see that they had landed on a bright sunny day in the kingdom of Vinera and saw a young couple up by the castle entrance talking quietly to one another.