Kay, so here's the dealio. Shirayuki and Zen are together, as are Kiki and Mitsuhide. Neither of the couples are married, and... yeah. Please Read and Review!
"Shirayuki..." Kiki muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm not sure if Zen would approve of you being outside this late at night. Especially in this kind of weather."
The weather that Kiki was talking about happened to be the fact that it was pouring outside, the rain unrelentlessly slapping the ceiling of the green house. Shirayuki had somehow convinced Kiki to come out with her in order to get some herbs she had left there earlier in the day.
There was a flash of lightning right as Shirayuki found the basket she had been searching for. "It's not too late... besides, Ryuu would be upset if I left these out here; they are very hard to get, due to the height of the tree they grow in. And he got them all by himself." She double checked that she had grabbed everything, not wanting to risk a second trip.
Kiki nodded silently, as she usually did, and proceeded to walk with Shirayuki out into the courtyard. Neither of them was extremely bothered by the rain, so they walked at a decent pace.
When they were standing by one of the taller trees, there was another flash of lightning. This time, however, it struck that tree, and Kiki and Shirayuki were in a close enough proximity that they could feel the shock wave coursing through them. (A/N- This really can happen, yup yup.)
The two women were knocked to the ground, and remained there for several seconds as they regained their composure.
"Are you alright?" Kiki asked, looking over at her red-haired friend.
Shirayuki nodded. "Are you?"
"I'm fine." She stood, sighing at the sight of mud covering her pants, then extended a hand to help Shirayuki up.
The two of them looked back at what had been a tree, and was now a large piece of burnt wood covered in embers, the only thing remaining from the lightning strike. (The rain helped in putting out the resulting fire.)
"Let's keep going," Kiki suggested. Shirayuki agreed, and the two hurried back to the castle.
The Next Day...
Shirayuki rolled over in her bed, refusing to open her eyes to what she was sure was sunlight filtering through the open window.
"I closed my curtains last night." She realized.
Her eyes flew open, and instantly Shirayuki could tell that this was most definitely not her room.
"What...?" Shirayuki wondered out loud, looking around frantically for some kind of clue as to where she was. She could tell the she was still somewhere in Wistal, which calmed her down immensely. Now, where in the palace? That was the true question.
Shirayuki heard a knock on the wooden door, and she raced over to it, wondering who would think to look for her there. And what was on the other side scared her to the point of screaming bloody murder.
It was herself, staring through the threshold and looking slightly taken aback as she took in what she was really seeing.
"So I was right..." The other Shirayuki said, entering without permission. There was a full-length mirror in the corner, and she stared at her reflection curiously before looking back over at the real Shirayuki.
"Who... why...?"
"I see you haven't figured it out yet. You may want to look in the mirror, Shirayuki." The 'clone' grabbed her arm and gently pulled her over to the mirror, which caused Shirayuki to scream once more.
Instead of seeing herself in the mirror, it was Kiki's body that was reflected back.
"Is that you, Kiki?" Shirayuki asked, turning around and asking her look-alike. She nodded, and with that now established, Shirayuki turned back to the mirror and further examined herself.
"How did this happen, Kiki?"
Kiki shrugged. "I presume that when the lightning struck that tree last night, it caused some sort of imbalance between us, causing us to switch bodies."
Both of them sat down on what Shirayuki now knew was Kiki's bed. "So what do we do now?" she asked, looking down at her lap.
Kiki was quiet in thought for a second, but both of them jumped when somebody knocked on the door.
"Shirayuki, you have to answer it," Kiki whispered. "Whoever it is is expecting me. Try to mimic my personality as much as possible." Shirayuki nodded as Kiki ducked behind the side of the bed.
Shirayuki pulled the door open and saw none other then Mitsuhide standing there, panting a little bit.
"Kiki... are you alright? I heard you screaming before..." He breathed, catching his breath as he waited for a response.
Shirayuki was silent for a second, not knowing how to respond. "Er, ah... Yes. I'm alright, I just had a very bad nightmare and woke up screaming. But it's okay." She couldn't think of an excuse as to why Kiki would scream, and she was sure that the stutter and the panicked look in her eyes wasn't exactly Kiki-like.
Mitsuhide breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Well, I have to go. I'll see you later." He bent down and kissed her forehead before turning back down the hall. Shirayuki's face went extremely red as she slammed the door.
"That's going to be a problem." Kiki stated, getting back onto the bed.
"Wh- what is?" Shirayuki muttered, still embarrassed.
"Mitsuhide and Zen. And having to pretend to be each other. I don't know about you, but I would rather not have to be tested," Kiki explained.
Shirayuki agreed. She hated being sick, one of the top reasons was the occasional testing.
"I don't want it to be awkard," Shirayuki said, "So we should probably try to avoid physical contact and such with Zen and Mitsuhide." She knew it would be hard to go back to the way things used to be if she had to engage in public displays of affection with Mitsuhide. "But if we don't change back within a fortnight," she warned. 'I'm telling them."
Kiki nodded. "Understood. Now, let me tell you a few things. I will read some of your pharmaceutical books to try and understand your job a little bit better. However, you may find learning my duties a little bit more..." she paused, trying to figure out the right word. "Demanding."
Shirayuki nodded, eyes widening. "I- I can't hold a sword, much less fight with one!"
Kiki knew this. "As long as things are peaceful until things change back, you should have fairly little to do. During times with little fighting, I usually train with Mitsuhide. I suppose you could try to find some sort of excuse to avoid doing so."
Shirayuki took a mental note of this. "So...I guess I'll get dressed now..."
Kiki nodded and left the room, finding her way back to Shirayuki's quarters.
The next chapter is much better, but I don't intend to update until at least 4 reviews.