Disclaimer: Don't own Kingdom Hearts. I don't make money from this. In fact, I have NEGATIVE INVISIBLE MONEY from student loans. /thumbs up

An AkuRoku Fairy Tale

Chapter One: King Xemnas Lays Down the LAW

Ages ago, in a land far from here, there was a magnificent kingdom. In this kingdom, the people lived happily. It was a beautiful, fertile land where the people thrived; farmers produced bountiful harvests of grains, vegetables, and fruits, and everyone had enough to eat every day. The streams and rivers snaked lazily through the lush, green fields, deep valleys, and picturesque, snow-capped mountains into crystal clear lakes and the rolling ocean. Merchants and craftsmen enjoyed a golden age of business as they supplied the citizens of the kingdom with their wares. The noble families of different provinces watched over the people and governed them fairly, and their soldiers protected the people from any and all danger. Every person lived a happy life… except the king.

The king only had one problem. However, his problem was not with the people; the citizens were peaceful, and they had no cause to rise against him in protest or revolt. His problem was not national debt; the kingdom enjoyed a vault full of treasure and gold—an impressive surplus of wealth. The king did not fear invasion or war; their country enjoyed a great relationship with their neighbors.

The king's headaches were caused by parenting.

Prince Axel had King Xemnas at his wit's end.

In all other aspects, the boy turned out quite well. He was dedicated to his studies, and he practiced with rapier, bow, and his preferred weapon, the chakram, every day. He was a handsome youth, but he never let his good appearances go to his head; he spoke well in front of crowds with an enthusiastic, charismatic grace the king was proud of. He had no doubt his son would make a fine king someday, but…

King Xemnas marched down the hall leading toward the prince's chambers, and the sounds of his stomping boots on the gleaming floors echoed throughout the hall, announcing his presence to all those who could hear it. Any servants within the vicinity knew that King Xemnas was in one of his moods, and they scurried out of the way.

The prince, in his room with a book on his country's history, heard his father's approach.

'Well, here we go again...' He thought.

The great oak doors of his room flew open with great force, crashing against the walls. His father barged in. Axel greeted him with a hello and a tentative smile as he glanced up from his book. Xemnas looked absolutely furious, and his skin was all red and blotchy.

"AXEL!" He bellowed. "You're eighteen! You're a man grown, for fuck's sake, and you need to settle down and get married! I'm not getting any younger, you know, and I want to see you wed BEFORE I'm on my death bed! I want to know you'll be taken care of after I'm gone by someone who loves you—And DON'T YOU ROLL YOUR EYES AT ME!"

"Father, would you calm down?"

Axel hid his smile behind his book. His father's "biological clock" was ticking him off again. Axel was used to hearing these lectures about getting married ever since he hit puberty. The minute he got some scruff and pimples on his chin, his father had set him down for an overdrawn, uncomfortable discussion about what it meant to "be a man." Axel had decided, in the middle of that conversation, that he would give "being a man" his own meaning.

Instead of thinking "I was born a man, so I should behave this way according to society's script of what a man ought to be," Axel had decided his mindset would be this: "I am myself, so I want to become the kind of man I want to be." He was determined to make himself strong in mind, body, and heart. To be sure, his father was proud of his pursuits for the most part, but he was so stubborn about seeing Axel get married even though Axel tried to explain that he wanted to mature and discover love on his own first before he chose a spouse.

"NOIWILLNOTCALMDOWN!"

"Father-"

"Don't you 'Father' me! You are going to get MARRIED, and you are going to like it!" As King Xemnas emphasized the word "married," he jabbed Axel in the shoulder with his finger.

"You can't force me to marry!"

"Oh YES I can! I am KING, boy, and I'm the master of his house! I've been trying to set you up with beautiful princesses and nobles since your voice started cracking, but you turned every single one of them away. Do you know how embarrassing that is for our family? Other royal families set up arranged marriages AT BIRTH, so I won't hear any of your protests. I'm sick of all this 'If I marry, I want it to be for love' crap. You've been saying it since you hit puberty, and you STILL have not found anyone yet. You've had plenty of time to find someone nice to settle down with. Do you even CARE about your future? Do you care that I'm getting older, and I want to see you happy before I die? And I want grandchildren to put on my knee and tell stories to before I'm gone! I want to know our family line will continue, Axel! By the gods, it's driving me up the wall! Therefore, I'm taking matters into my own hands!"

"But-"

"Shut up! There will be a ball in two weeks time, and you will choose your spouse-to-be then. Girl, guy, I don't give a damn, to be quite frank. You're going to pick, and you're going to get married, and that is FINAL."

Before Axel could speak up for himself, his father had taken off down the hall to see that invitations would be sent out immediately. Axel threw his book down on the floor in anger.

"What the hell is he talking about his death bed for? He's forty-one!"

Then he stormed out of his bedroom. He didn't want to sit there and think about this hopeless situation he apparently had no control over.

'I might as well blow off this extra steam,' he thought. He headed to the weapons' room to pick up a few extra hours of practice. He had a feeling he would be spending much of these next two weeks sweating anyway, so he might as well be productive.

End Chapter One.

There. I'm a happier with these revisions.

Notes: Average life expectancy at this time and in this kingdom was somewhere around sixty or seventy. And, if you've lived a very good life, it wasn't surprising if you hit eighty.