Chapter 1

Sakuno's heart felt light as she ran outside into the courtyard. The sky was a vivid blue that hosted a bright, cosmic sun. Mere wisps of cloud marred the nearly perfect sky, and similarly, not a cloud of discontent shadowed the young girl's face as she traipsed to the center of the garden. She gracefully dropped herself to the ground, sleepy brown eyes gazing at the large expanse of blue above her. The wind sang quietly as it compelled the lilies all about her to dance, and in that moment, Sakuno knew that all her belief in happiness and goodness was true, civil war or no civil war.

"Princess Sakuno!"

A call came from one of the doorways in the castle wall. The voice, though exasperated in its tone, was soft and quite understanding of the princess's moment of childishness. Sakuno turned her head slightly to see her tutor and trusted mentor approaching, his cool blue eyes open and a small smile poised on his face.

She gave no response to his earlier call, and with a sigh, the older man sat down beside her.

"Certainly you know, Your Highness, that it is very unbecoming for a young woman—especially a princess—to run through the halls, away from an important lesson, to instead lie down in the middle of a garden," her tutor gently chastised.

A sweet smile spread across her face as she replied, "If being a princess requires acting perpetually stiff yet well informed, I'd rather be an uneducated fisherman's daughter and run on a beach barefoot all the day long. There are too many responsibilities when as you get older. If I could have my way, Fuji, I would never grow older than fifteen!"

"And yet you will be sixteen soon," Fuji reminded her.

A pout crossed the girl's face. "Oh, Fuji, stop being such a stick in the mud. You're hardly older than I am. Can't you at least be thankful that the war with Fudomine has finally ended?"

The smile on Fuji's face slowly diminished as he regarded the princess seriously as he spoke, "Yes, I would be thankful, but the message that your brother sent from the border was quite…vague. I do not consider myself cynical, but Prince Ryoma did not even make a statement about whom the victor was. We could have lost the war."

"Not cynical?" Sakuno asked, as she closed her eyes. "You tell me that I'm too old to act childish. Well, I shall tell you, Fuji, that you are too young to speak in such a way."

Fuji was quiet as he lifted his eyes to the sky. There was such uproar over a single message from the prince.

The war is ended. I shall return shortly. Signed, the Crown Prince of Seigaku, Ryoma.

The entire castle seemed torn between excitement and the same apprehension which Fuji felt. The past few days were spent in anxious wonderment, anticipating the return of the king and Prince Ryoma. With them would come details.

The noise of running feet caught Fuji's attention, and he saw a page, quite out of breath, bursting from the same door he himself had earlier come from. Fuji stood to meet the black-haired boy.

Speaking haggardly between gasps for air, he said, "Prince Ryoma…has…returned from…Fudomine. He is with…the Queen…they wish for Princess Sakuno…to join them in the conference room."

Fuji nodded. "Yes, of course. Thank you, Kachiro."

By this time Sakuno had sat up, her eyes gleaming with quiet enthusiasm. Fuji glanced over his shoulder at her, contemplating whether or not to ask his next question.

"And the king, Kachiro? You did not mention him."

The slender boy seemed to almost flinch under the weight of the inquiry. As he hesitated, Fuji could feel a cold slip over the courtyard. Sakuno resumed staring at the sky only to see the sun slip behind a growing thunderhead.

"The king did not return alive."

Fuji heard the choked gasp behind him, and his own eyes grew faint.

"Thank you, Kachiro," he nearly whispered.

The page gave a shaky bow and quickly retreated from the courtyard. Fuji quietly returned his attention the princess who sat rigidly, staring at the sky's intruder. He could see the water welling in her eyes. Slowly, he knelt beside her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. A tear slid down her pale face.

"Your highness," he began, a bit unsure of what to say, "there will be grief, but it is your duty as princess of Seigaku to remain strong for everyone else. Your brother and grandmother need you to be strong with them."

Though her lips trembled, no more tears emerged from Sakuno's eyes. Her eyes numbly shifted to Fuji, and he reached a hand to wipe away the wet trail on her cheek. Her lips moved, but no words came out. Fuji wrapped his arm around her as she finally collapsed against him, silent and tearless sobs shaking her small frame. The courtyard's light grew darker above them as the wind dragged more clouds across the sky, and the scent of rain permeated the air.

"Fuji?" The trembling girl finally managed a coherent whisper. "Does this mean…that we did lose?"

She lifted her head to look at him, and it was no comfort to see how grave his face had become.

"It would be wise to assume the worst, Sakuno."

The tension in the room was nearly tangible. Ryoma silently regarded the scene before him, a whirlpool of despair and utter annoyance swirling about inside of him. His face held a façade of apathy as his grandmother played the part of hostess to the officers from Fudomine. On and on went comments about how foolish she had thought the war was, and frankly, she was glad that the whole shenanigan was over and that life could return to some semblance of order; on and on she prattled.

Ryoma resisted the urge to growl. Of course you supported the war. You wanted us to crush the Fudomine rebels more than Father did. Yet who's dead now?

The group sat at a long table in a rather small room. It was almost claustrophobic were it not for the windows at the southern wall. The queen and he sat on one side of the table; Tezuka, the royal scribe, also sat beside the queen as he prepared papers and ink. Their four guests from Fudomine sat before them. Recognizing a feral strength about the leader, Ryoma stared at the man with his dark hair and equally dark eyes. Tachibana, he had called himself. He was their king, or so the others called him. Ryoma quickly shifted his gaze to the windows, his fists inadvertently clenching on his lap.

Tachibana, King of Fudomine…king of barbarians, more like…and the others…

He peeked briefly at the others—two rather slender men, one with long, black hair and the other sporting cropped red hair, sat on either side of Tachibana. Both looked uncomfortable. Beside the redhead was yet another guest, a young woman with large eyes glimmering with a sharp intelligence that intrigued Ryoma. The prince tensed when the girl, having noticed his gaze, glanced towards him. For a moment, their eyes locked, and she smiled—a smile that seemed to apologize for the situation, for the war, for his father's death. Too surprised to even think of returning it, Ryoma's thoughts were quickly broken by the polite knock upon the room's door.

Fuji entered the room, and with a deep bow directed at the queen, he spoke, "Your granddaughter, Princess Sakuno."

Belying the new lines surrounding her eyes and mouth, the queen allowed herself a mock-genuine smile.

"Wonderful. Send her in, Fuji."

He promptly returned to the hallway only to be replaced by the petite girl, dressed in a simple blue gown and her long hair braided. Although her face was already quite grim upon entering, a look of surprise passed over his visage when she became aware of the four extra people in the room. However, she quickly remembered her place and curtsied to the queen.

"I'm glad that you have joined us, Sakuno. Please sit down so that we may continue the meeting with our friends from Fudomine," the queen said, with that smile still drawn tightly across her face.

Friends?

The thought seemed to flutter through everyone's minds.

Talk of borders and withdrawal of military and political forces droned on between the queen, Tezuka, Tachibana, and the ever-muttering assistant from Fudomine. Ryoma could not help but notice the perspiration on Sakuno's neck. She had not uttered a word since she had taken her seat beside him, and the only noises he noticed was an occasional clearing of her throat. His sister soon nudged her hand against his, trying to get his attention. With a perturbed flick of his own hand, he looked at out of the corner of his eye.

What? He could see the questions floating behind her eyes, but he felt that none of them would be ones that he could rightly answer.

Why does Grandmother want me here? Sakuno seemed to silently ask.

"It is a bit boring, isn't it?" a kind, soft voice whispered from across the table.

Startled, Ryoma looked up to see the young woman from Fudomine smiling sympathetically. Sakuno also stared at the woman. Even the redhead who sat beside her, uninvolved in the others' discussion, was discreetly listening.

While the two Seigaku royals just stared, the woman continued in a low voice.

"I'm An. The 'scary' one over there," she said, pointing to Tachibana, "is my brother. Whatever politics he's involved in, I'm involved in as well. I'm sorry that you're not as used to the…monotony of such meetings."

Ryoma realized that her words were directed more to Sakuno, and it was relieving to see that An's infectious smile had encouraged Sakuno to smile a little herself. However, the other woman unexpectedly displayed her boldness when—winking at Sakuno—she spoke up to the entire group.

"Excuse me, I understand that all of this is important, but surely it is not necessary to keep the highness, Princess Sakuno here. She seems tired."

Ryoma's eye twitched at the woman's confidence. Tezuka gave only a fleeting look and then presumed writing, continuing to ignore his surroundings. The long haired man from Fudomine, however, was grumbling something to Tezuka, still trying to get the other's attention. The only ones who acknowledged An's words were the queen and Tachibana. The queen's face had returned to an austere expression, and Tachibana was giving his younger sister a reproving—yet somewhat amused—look.

The queen then proceeded to say, "Ah, yes, Sakuno. It is very important that she remain here. I had already mentioned the idea to you, Tachibana. It is a sign of treaty between nations that my kingdom Seigaku has used before. If you would accept, Tachibana, I wish to offer my granddaughter's hand in marriage."

Ryoma eyes widened, but beyond that, he tried to hide all form of shock from his face. Sakuno's face had paled in unpleasant surprise; any words spoken afterward were blurred in her mind as the word marriage echoed over and over.

Marriage? …to Tachibana…to a rebel of Fudomine?!

Remembering how excitable his sister could be, Ryoma whispered to Sakuno if she was alright; already, the queen was talking Tachibana's ear off about how such a marriage alliance could strengthen the bond between Seigaku and Fudomine. Sakuno seemed to have gone deaf. An was watching their interactions, a concerned look across her face.

"Sakuno?" Ryoma tried whispering to her again.

Least expected of all was when the princess suddenly went limp and fell from her chair, silencing all discussions in the room. Ryoma barely caught her before she landed on the stone floor. Even the redheaded man from Fudomine had instinctly stood up; An was beside him, asking if the princess was alright. Tezuka briefly paused only to continue his relentless writing about gods-knew-what; on the other hand, the mumbler had been silenced. The queen looked just short of fainting herself, and Tachibana appeared somewhat embarrassed.

Chagrined, the queen spoke in a shaky voice, "Well, I'm sure all of this is a bit overwhelming for the girl. Perhaps she should rest."

Kneeling with his arms wrapped around his twin sister, Ryoma frowned deeply. Rest? She practically died on the spot...

He was surprised when An suddenly appeared before him on her knees as well. With another one of her apologetic smiles, she helped him pick up the comatose princess. Once he had her secure in his grip, he nodded to the queen and left the room.

Occasionally having to readjust his grip on the slender girl, Ryoma felt the fire inside of him flickering like the tail of an irritated cat as he carried Sakuno to her room. He knew he lacked a candid form of brotherly affection, but he did care for this fragile creature in his arms. His hand tightened on her shoulder as he vowed to prevent any such blood alliance to be formed. He would never give his sister away to a rebel from Fudomine, for nothing good could possibly come from a country that was built upon subversion. His lips pulled into a grim line as he recalled the three guerrilla soldiers who had sat so primly before his grandmother. He had to dispel the images of An that also came to his mind, even when a strange gut feeling kept insisting that she had followed him from the conference room.

He just snorted as he thought, Politics are for dogs, anyway. War and politics make us all paranoid idiots.

That was when he nearly jumped out of his skin when someone suddenly tapped his soldier while a door to a study beside him abruptly opened.

"Hello!" the annoyingly cheery voice of An chirped from behind him.

"Oh! Excuse me, Your Highness--" the statement came from Fuji who was carrying a stack of books in his arms. He blankly took in the scene before him: an unconcious princess in the arms of her brother and a small, redheaded woman standing behind the prince.

"Is the meeting over?" Fuji asked.

Ryoma simply sighed in his exasperation; "You could say that."

CHAPTER ONE - END

A/N: Well...yes, it's an AU fic, and because of that, I apologize only halfheartedly for OOC characters. Hee... Anyway, please enjoy! I've already plotted this story, so hopefully, chapters will be updated frequently......