Ok, this idea to me seemed weird yet good at the same time. So I decided to write it. Hope you like.

Ichigo was a princess, and Ryou was a prince. Wait, let me re-phrase tha. Ryou was a prince of the merpeople. Fate knew they'd be together, but it was going nowhere. Until that on fateful day...

Princess Ichigo was on a luxury cruise to celebrate her 16th birthday. 16 was the age girls got married in her kingdom, and she was engaged to Masaya Aoyama; a prince from a far away country. She had been engaged to him since...well, last year. It was her father's last wishes that she get married to someone she loved, and it was tradition to choose a prince.

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"So you're saying, if I get kissed by a woman...I'll turn into what she is?" asked Ryou. His father wasn't just the king; he was also the creator of the kingdom Shinarician, as well as a inventor and a scientist. "Of course, but since you'll be staying here, you'll remain a merman, forever," his father explained. "Plus, today's the day I get to take you to the surface."

"Dad, I've been to the surface before..." but Ryou was cut short. "Yes, but lately I've been busy, and today, I just want to spend a day with my son," Ryou's father said happily. "Well, we better hurry, the humans are putting on a display of 'fireworks', whatever those are." Ryou's father started heading upward toward the surface of the water, with Ryou behind him.

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"Mom, they're beautiful! These fireworks are amazing!" Ichigo said with excitement. "Your father was quite handy...he made these for you, before..." she stopped. Tears were welling in her eyes as Zakuro (Yes, Zakuro is Ichigo's mother, I changed it around a bit) cried from the memory of her deceased husband.

"Mom, don't cry, dad was really a special person and we all miss him. And I love these fireworks; I never knew dad had saved them for my sixteenth birthday," Ichigo said. She could never stand to see her mother cry, and it was like a little needle poked through her heart when her father was mentioned. "Queen Zakuro, a storm is coming! Should I tell them to cease the fireworks so we can head back to the mainland?" asked Mint, her personal advisor. "No, we'll finish up hear and head back in before the storm even hits, we'll be fine," said Zakuro. But maybe, that accusation wasn't correct.

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"So these are fireworks," said Ryou's father in amazement. "Amazing, aren't they Ryou...Ryou? Where are you?" Ryou was up next to the ship Ichigo was on staring at someone. "She's...she's...beautiful..." thought Ryou. He had never seen anyone like her before. Her beautiful magenta hair, her figure and how he thought she fit into her fins (Ok, Ryou doesn't know about clothes, and can't see her feet under her dress) and that smile. But then, something snapped Ryou from his day-dreaming.

A strike of lightning lit up the sky, and hit a spot on the boats deck, next to Ichigo. Ichigo fell to the ground, as the spark lit into a blaze. Everyone started to run, and Zakuro brought down the lifeboats. She thought someone had taken Ichigo to safety, but as soon as she got out on the water and out of harms way, she heard a faint cry that sounded like Ichigo's saying "Mom, where are you? I need help, someone help me!" That was the last word she heard, for the ship split in two, and the half Ichigo was on had sunken into the water so quickly, she didn't even breathe.

"Ichigo!" Zakuro screamed. She couldn't stand the thought of losing her oldest child. Pudding was only eight and didn't come with. But now, Ichigo was gone, and she could do nothing about it. Or was she? "Search the waters! We need to find her! Losing her is not an option, now move!" she yelled. People started jumping out of the boats to save their dear princess.

Ichigo was falling into the depths of the ocean. She knew how to swim, but it was as if she had just forgotten. She was frozen, and she shut her eyes, and she thought this was the end. But then, she felt two strong arms around her as she was being pulled up. Ryou's father spotted him once Ryou reached the surface, and rushed over right away.

"Ryou, what are you doing! She's a human!" said his father.

"Dad, I have to do this, I have to protect her!" As Ryou and his father argued about rescuing Ichigo or not, Ichigo's eyes slowly opened. Soon, she was gazing at the face of the man who saved her. Ryou's father noticed this and stared at her. Ryou couldn't figure out what he was staring at, but then turned to Ichigo and saw her with her eyes staring at him, just looking. It was as if they had gotten lost in each others eyes. But as quick as she had opened them, she closed them. Ryou's father slapped Ryou for his foolishness, which caused him to drop Ichigo. Ryou was about to dive for her, but his father grabbed his arm.

"Lets go son, you've done enough," said Ryou's father coldly. "You're coming with me." Ryou's father quickly pulled him underneath the water, and Ryou saw Ichigo going deeper and deeper each second. Finally, he pulled away from his father and swam as fast as he could just to reach her. She was sinking at an alarming rate, and the water was getting darker and darker. She was almost too deep to see when Ryou caught her hand.

The surface was to far from there, and she would drown before he reached it; no matter how fast he swam. But then, he saw a cave, and he knew that there was a cavern where humans could breathe. He pulled Ichigo to that cave and gently set Ichigo down so she could breathe.

Ichigo breathed deeply once he had gotten the water out of her lungs. Mouth-to-mouth had saved her life, although nothing changed in Ryou's appearances. It wasn't a kiss, and once she was breathing again, he took her out of the cave and to the surface. By now, Ryou's father had almost given up, and thought that his son was just doing a good deed. But little did he know it was a little more complicated than that.

She had breathed water again, but was just unconscious. After he had gotten her to shore, he gently set her down, and try to give her mouth-to-mouth again. But this time, was much different. "If I just get her breathing again, she'll be fine, and I can leave...never to see her again..." he thought. But his thoughts were interrupted when she pulled him closer and kissed him.

As soon as Ryou got away from her, he hopped back into the ocean, but the spell was already starting to take effect. His fins were starting to disappear, as well as his scales. Soon, he couldn't breathe underwater, and couldn't figure out how to swim either. But just as he was about to drown, he tried kicking his legs, and it got him closer to shore. He repeatedly kicked his legs, and soon he was at shore. His fins were gone, and in his place were legs with a pair of shorts that when down to his knees.

After he had caught his breath, he walked on the shore, wondering how the hell he'd get home. He looked around a couple of times before he saw the girl he had saved sitting on a rock. She had heard nhis footsteps getting closer and closer, although her eyesight was still blurry. She stared at him, trying to get a good-look. Since Ryou had nothing else to do, he sat next to her, wondering what the hell she was staring at. She then snapped out of her day-dreaming and started to make idle chit-chat. "So, I've never seen you around here, where you from?"

"I'm from Shinara...Shinara...it's a really small kingdom, so small, they don't even put it on maps," said Ryou. "Close call," he thought.

"Kingdom...you mean you're a prince?" she asked. The only prince she had ever met was Prince Masaya whom she was engaged to...him and Prince Kish, but that was a bad meeting from the beginning.

"Yeah, my father established it," he said back. That was partly true, his father had established the kingdom, but not the kingdom of Shinara. Shinara was his mother's name which the king had named after her.

"Wow, I never met my father...well...I did know him, but I was only three when he passed on. At his funeral, I had no idea what was going on. I thought he was just sleeping, but afterward, when my mom told me he wasn't coming back, I was so...sad..." she said. Her eyesight was clearing up, and soon she could see the color of his eyes, but couldn't make out the rest of him.

"I'm going to have a step-dad soon though," she said with a little more happiness in her voice..."My personal tutor, Keiichiro, had an affair with my mother. They are going to get married in two weeks."

"Hey, at least you have a mother and a step-father, all I've had all my live is my father...my father named it after my mother, her name was Shinara. (Ok, I have no clue what his parents names are, but know what, this is going to be different, he has a father, not the same mother and father as in the manga) She died giving birth to me, so I never knew her," replied Ryou with a tone of sadness in his voice.

Ichigo's sight was finally returning to normal. She looked into his face and thought, "He looks…….familiar….."

"Hey, you look familiar...are you sure we haven't met?" asked Ichigo. She was sure she had seen him, and then it came to her before Ryou even made his reply. "I know! You're that guy who saved me!"

"Oh...yeah, that," said Ryou. "Well, I have to go, so….."

"You're not going anywhere; my mother would love to meet you!" said Ichigo. "Come on, lets go!" she said excitedly and pulled on his arm to make him come with her.

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"We're here, come on, I'll show you around!" she said, still dragging him by the arm. She wanted to thank him somehow, and this was a way of thanking him. She showed him all around the castle; the library, the dining hall, everything. She did this all while running, which got very tiring.

"I'm tired, come on, lets go see my mother. She thinks I'm dead! We need to tell her!" she explained.

"Look, I've really liked exploring with you, but I have to go," Ryou replied.

"No, you I need some way to thank you, and I'll ask my mom if you can stay a couple days," she said. Ichigo burst through the big doors which concealed Zakuro's room. She was crying, fearing she had lost her child. Once she heard her doors open, she looked at the person standing in front of the doors, and was shocked. Ichigo was standing in front of her with some guy.

"Ichigo!" Zakuro said while running to greet her daughter, and then embraced her with a long hug. "I thought I'd lost you!"

"Mom," Ichigo replied once they parted, "This is Ryou. He saved me from drowning."

"Hey, how do you know my name? I never told you."

Well, I heard you and you're father talking when you saved me," said Ichigo.

Well, at least this got rid of two things on Zakuro's mind. "Thank you so much Ryou," Zakuro said kindly. "If there is anything we can do, please just ask," said Zakuro.

"Well mom, could Ryou stay a couple nights here, i don't think he has anywhere to go," said Ichigo without consulting Ryou.

"Of course he can," said Zakuro sweetly. "Ichigo, are you forgetting that you're ball is tonight, I think you should go get ready?"

"Right, come on Ryou," she said, once dragging him by his arm again.

"I...I don't have anything to wear though. And if this is a royal ball, I don't think people will appreciate me walking around in these," said Ryou, pointing to the things on his legs. He still did not know what they were called.

"Don't worry, you can wear one of my father's suits, you'll look so handsome..." she slapped her hand over her mouth and blushed a deep pink color at what she had just said.

"Ichigo is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, nothing wrong, I just think you're really good-looking. She slapped her hand over her mouth again, her face changing colors at an alarming rate. She couldn't say those remarks were lies; he was well built and had gorgeous blue eyes with beautiful blonde hair. On top of that, he was very sweet. What was tempting her to say those things? Was she falling in love with this total stranger?

Ok, that's the end of chapter one, a premiere on my birthday. Duh, I always make a premiere on my birthday, last year was an Inuyasha premiere, but i deleted it because I thought it was really stupid and mediocre. Hey, I was younger...about one year younger. Anyway, today is my 14th birthday. Here's a little paragraph/summary of whats coming in the nest chapter:

"Good morning Ichigo," said Ryou, making Ichigo jump.

"Where did he come from, and where did he get all those clothes?" she thought.

"Oh, I got these clothes from Keiichiro, he said that I needed something other than these things called 'khaki shorts'," he said.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed at him. She didn't want anyone interfering with what she did every morning. "Well someone's cranky this morning. So where are you going?" he said.

"It's none of your business," she hissed at him again.

"Well then," said Ryou, backing her into a wall and getting closer to her. "I'm making it my business."

"Woah, now he's brave, no one would even dare talk back to me or back me into a corner," thought Ichigo. Her heart was beating faster and faster with every inch he grew closer to her.

Yes the nest chapter is long; about 5 or 6 Microsoft word pages. Well anyway, read and review, over and out.

-Nibzo