Disclaimer's note- I do not own Gundam Seed.

Summary- Completely AU, no references to Mobile Suits at all, except maybe names. The characters are the same as the ones in Cosmic Revolution and some Destiny characters, except Tiffa is Ryo's sister and Haro's a fairy. Pretty much your typical fantasy plot: peasant boy has big dreams, princess wants to see life outside the castle and runs away, boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy risks his life to save girl, girl falls for boy, and then a whole bunch of other stuff. Pairings: RyoxCagalli (sorry AthrunxCagalli fans!), KiraxLacus, DearkaxMiriallia, ShinnxStellar, ReyxLunamaria.

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Chapter 1

When you hear the word "love", it can mean many different things. It can describe a sibling-like affection or just be used to emphasize one's happiness. Or it can just mean what it normally means, a strong bond between two people. Okay, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Hey! This is a fantasy story! Why the hell didn't it start with 'Once upon a time' or something like that?" Why? Because this story isn't that kind of fantasy. I'm not talking about happy little midgets and cute forest animals with the intellectual capacity to clean a cottage. I'm talking about real fantasy, with elves and dragons and that kind of stuff. You know; action fantasy, none of that cheesy crap that you hear about Prince Charming saving the damsel in distress but real stuff. I'm talking

"Hey! Ryo!" someone shouted, "Are you going to come out here or what?" Annoyed, I looked over to the window and saw a boy my age with messy black hair and reddish eyes peering into it. "Come on! Rey already went to get the others! You'd better hurry up if we're going to go on our trip!"

"Alright! Alright!" I replied, "I'll be right out, Shinn, just let me get my stuff!" I sighed and put down the feather quill that I had been using on my wood desk before standing up and heading over to the door. Pushing it open, I almost ran into a young girl up to my chin with long brown hair tied back into a pony tail with the sides hanging down like wings and deep blue eyes. In a nutshell, it was my little sister, Tiffa.

"Sorry, big brother," she said, "I was coming here to tell you that…"

"Shinn was looking for me?" I asked, "Don't worry, sis', I saw him out of the window."

"Oh," she smiled, "Well, have fun out there!"

"Thanks," I said, smiling as well before messing up her hair affectionately. She didn't mind, she giggled in fact. No matter what other people said of her, I still loved her dearly and she gladly returned the feelings. "I'd better get going, Shinn can get pretty impatient when it comes to these kind of things," I told her and she laughed as I left, not before grabbing a bundle along the way, though. As I went outside into the open and closed the door, I looked up and squinted my onyx colored eyes against the light, even though some of my black hair went past it in random strands.

"There you are!" Shinn said as he came over, "What took you?"

"I was writing," I answered, "And I was getting something good until you showed up and interrupted me."

"Fine, sorry for interfering with the novel."

"Hey, don't mock me because I'm interested in literature, Asuka, that doesn't mean that I don't wanna become a warrior any less." This part was true; it had always been my dream and passion to become a great warrior. Of course, a lot of boys throughout the kingdom had this kind of dream, although most of them never fulfill it. Just then, a certain blonde haired boy with icy blue eyes came up to us and with him came two girls, namely the Hawke sisters, Lunamaria and Meyrin. Both had lavender eyes, Lunamaria had somewhat short, reddish-purple hair while Meyrin's was tied up into two pigtails and more of a reddish color. As for the boy, Rey za Burrel, his blonde hair reached down past his shoulders and was amongst the quiet type. The others, on the other hand, Meyrin in particular, were much more sociable and enjoyed a conversation, although Shinn could be somewhat clumsy both verbally and physically at times. All of us were dressed pretty much the same, boys with long-sleeved wool shirts with cloth wrapped around the waist and wrists to keep the sleeves in place. Long pants and normal shoes were also part of the attire. The girls wore the same tops but wore long, casual gowns over short pants since the gowns had slits on the side to expose the legs and make running easier. All of the tops had hoods and came in a variety of colors, mine being grey with black pants. Most boys would carry a small defensive tool of some sort around and Rey, Shinn, and myself were no exceptions, all three of us carried slightly curved knives in leather sheaths tied to our cloth belts.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Lunamaria asked, "I really wouldn't want to come back here in case we forgot something."

"I'm sure that we have everything," I replied, "Unless, of course, you want me to bring my sword with me."

"I think that we'll be just fine without it," Rey said with a smile, "The fields aren't that dangerous, you know." I had, of course, been talking about a weapon that I owned and it was one of my most prized possessions. The handle was a foot long in a prism like shape and the hand guard was about five inches, both were pitch black with cloth wrapped around the handle to keep my grip from slipping. The actual blade was a good four and a half feet in length and curved slightly like my knife. Unlike the traditional double-edged swords that other people, mostly knights, carried, mine only had one cutting edge and that meant that it was used primarily for slashing and cutting instead of jabbing, although it was possible to do it. Despite the fact that it was nearly as big as I was, since I was about four inches taller than it, I was pretty skilled with it and it wasn't a problem for me to wield it at all, since it was rather light considering its length because of the thin blade.

"Okay, we've got all that we need," Meyrin whined, "Now let's go! We've wasted enough time out here talking!" We laughed at this and set off. The younger Hawke sister can get rather annoying sometimes, since she was a year younger than all of us, being fifteen like my sister. As we walked through the path in the woods, carrying our baggage, the five of us chatted without concern and finally, after about fifteen minutes of walking, the trees parted to reveal the vast rolling plains that stretched as far as the eye could see. Grass covered knolls rose up everywhere, making the area popular during the winter as a great sledding spot. Also, sometimes large groups of fairies would fly around in the night during the summer, a phenomenon that was quite a sight to see as masses of multicolored lights floated around the ground like stars. Today, however, we were just here to enjoy the fresh air and some lunch that we had brought. We found a decent spot that had just enough sun and shade and sat down, talking some more before starting to eat. As we did, a gentle breeze swept across the plains, playing with our hair as the grass danced in its path.

"You know, it's times like this that I wish can last forever," Lunamaria said with a smile, "Just the five of us, out here in the open with the sun out, doesn't get much better than this."

"Yeah," I agreed, staring off in the direction of the market as I lay back and rested my head in my hands. It was a large area where villagers from all over the kingdom would come to buy, sell, and trade items. Slightly beyond that was a magnificent palace where the royal family lived. Its inner walls white as marble while its many towers were guarded by an iron gate and a stone wall patrolled by royal soldiers.

"Ryo? You feeling okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, just doing a bit of daydreaming."

"About what?"

"I've always wondered what it would be like to live in the palace, even for a day," I said distractedly, "I guess it would be great. I mean, think about it. You've got people who do your every bidding, the power to do just about anything you want, and great food. Sounds like a good life."

"Yeah, it does," Shinn agreed with a nod, turning his eyes over to where I was looking, "It kind of makes me wish that I did live there."

"Still," I suddenly pointed out, "I guess it would be kind of boring there without some friends to share it with. What's the point of having everything that you want if you can't share it with your friends?"

"You've got a point," Rey nodded, "I know I'd rather live like this with Luna than spend my life in the palace alone."

"Oh, you're such a tease, Rey za Burrel," Lunamaria smiled and lay against his arm, resting her head on his shoulder. Despite the fact that they were seventeen, the two had already established a strong relationship and their parents seemed to approve of it, they were pretty much waiting for the two to get engaged.

"Sure, easy for you to say, Rey," I said, looking at the two, "You've been in there more times than we have." Rey's father served in the royal guard and sometimes brought him to the palace when on an errand. Because of this, he had some military expertise and had long been considering serving in the guard along with his father. He had told us about those brief visits and he had even made a few friends among some of the younger guardsmen, all of them around his age.

"Yeah, well it's not like I had anything better to do back then."

"You know guys, why don't we go down to the spring?" Meyrin suggested out of no where, "It's been a while since we've been there. The rest of us agreed and we all got up and started towards the forest spring. It was a place where people could go to get some peace and quiet or to just sit around and admire the beauty of it. Fairies dwelled there and sometimes wild animals would appear as well, not minding if visitors were there at the same time. It was a tranquil place where conflict rarely aroused and it was shown by the clear water as well as luscious plant life, including rare species of flowers. When we got there, we saw that there wasn't anyone else and this suited us just fine, this meant that there was plenty of room for us to sit down and just enjoy the scenery. I chose to sit near the banks of the spring and was looking into it when I noticed something shining inside of the water that looked like a stone big enough to rest comfortably in my palm, even though the water itself seemed to be illuminated by some mysterious light. Curious, I reached into the water and grasped it with my fingers, lifting it out of the water and eyeing it.

"What do you have there, Ryo?"

"I dunno," I replied, examining it closely as the others came closer, "Looks like some kind of metal."

"Hey, I've seen that stuff before!" Lunamaria said excitedly, "That's a chunk of mithril that you're holding, Ryo! Boy, you're really lucky to find something like that!" At her words, the rest of us grew excited as well. Mithril was a very beautiful and extremely rare alloy, commonly used in jewelry or metalworking, a piece the size of my thumb could sell for much gold.

"Do you think there's more in there?" Shinn asked, looking at the calm waters.

"Maybe, but it would probably be better if we didn't look," Meyrin replied, "After all, we shouldn't disturb this place. Ryo just had a real stroke of luck, that's all."

"You have to admit, though, you really don't see this kind of luck everyday," Rey pointed out, "That thing's about the size of a padlock, that's a lot of mithril for one find. I've seen this much in shards but never in one whole chunk." They continued to talk about the find for a while until Shinn asked Ryo a somewhat random question.

"So, Ryo, what're you going to do with the money?"

"What do mean?"

"Hello, do you have any idea how much gold this thing is worth?" Shinn asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "You're going to sell it, right?"

"Maybe, I really don't know," I said, looking at it again, "I guess I can ask my dad to make something out of it and then sell whatever's left over; it'll still be a lot."

"What do you have in mind?" Meyrin asked.

"No clue, I guess I'll figure out later," I shrugged, putting the precious metal into my pocket, "Anyway, what do you say we start to head home? It's getting kind of late, and…" It was about then that something the size of a small rock hit me on the side of the head and dropped onto my shoulder. Alarmed, I looked around before noticing a patch of light resting on my shoulder and warily reached up to touch it. I noticed a strange lump there and picked it up with my fingers before dropping it into my palm. All of us could tell right away from the wings that it was a fairy and what confused us most was the fact that it had just dropped in on us, fairies were normally rather shy. A round, pinkish aura surrounded it like most fairies, although pink was a somewhat rare color for them. This particular one was a female the size of my little finger and had long, violet hair, which went well with her blue eyes; I estimated that she was just a bit younger than us in our years. "Today's definitely a weird day," I thought as the others gathered around.

"….Did that fairy just crash into your head?"

"I….guess so….I sure wasn't expecting it…"

"Sorry," the fairy replied in a surprisingly audible voice, "I was trying to get away from a bird back there when my foot got snagged onto something and I took a nasty fall through some branches. Got away alright, but I think I broke my leg; I couldn't fly straight 'cause it hurts so much."

"…I never thought I'd ever hear the words 'fairy' and 'fall' in the same sentence…"

"Shinn, not now," I said, taking a closer look at the injured leg, "Well, it's not that bad, but it should still be treated. Hold still for a bit." Saying that, I looked around and plucked a reed out of the ground and gently wrapped it around the leg, furrowing my brow in concentration. Eventually, the leg was bound tightly but comfortably, all that it needed now was time. "That should do it," I told her, "Just don't put too much weight on the leg and it should heal in a matter of days."

"Thanks," she smiled and then did something strange, she hovered in the air for a moment before flying up and coming to a rest on the top of my head before making herself comfortable up there.

"Um, you can leave now."

"Why? I like it up here."

"Well, you don't need my help anymore."

"But I like you," the fairy insisted, still refusing to leave, "You're the first person who ever helped me with anything; everyone else never listens to me."

"But-"

"Pleeeeeaaaaaase?" she begged, "It's a tradition for fairies to find a human partner at a certain age and back at home, everyone keeps teasing me because I still don't have one! Please let me stay with you!"

"Come on, Ryo, just let her stay," Lunamaria said, "After all, not everyone has a fairy partner. People who do are pretty lucky."

"Jeez, Ryo, did you eat four-leaf clovers for breakfast today or something?" Shinn asked jokingly, "First you stumble upon a chunk of mithril and now you have a fairy partner! Today's really your lucky day, huh?"

"I guess," I shrugged and then said, "Alright, you can stay, but try not to cause too much trouble, alright?"

"You got it," the fairy replied, "Oh, and by the way, my name's Hali." After we had all introduced ourselves, we all began the walk home, still talking about the great day that we had had.

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"Oh, Cagalli, why do you have to be so difficult?"

"Difficult? Me? Come on!" the said girl replied, crossing her arms across her chest, "That guy was a total jerk! All that he'd talk about was how rich he was and how great his horses were! How do you not call that difficult, Kira?" She was referring to her twin brother, a boy of sixteen with brown hair and violet eyes. Kira was an excellent scholar, although he was capable of defending himself and others quite easily. The speaking girl was Cagalli Yula Atha, the daughter of Uzumi Nara Atha, the current king of Orb, making Kira its prince. With shoulder length hair and amber eyes, Cagalli looked like a princess but her personality barely fitted her title. She was hotheaded with a temper to boot but was usually a nice person, only getting mad when she deemed it necessary. The two siblings were currently talking about Cagalli's latest suitor, who the princess of Orb had kicked out of the palace rather unceremoniously. Since she was at the age where most girls got married, her father had constantly sent for other noblemen to come and seek her hand in marriage. The thing was, he had yet to succeed in finding a suitor that Cagalli actually liked.

"I know, I didn't really like him either, but did you really have to chase him out of the front door with Stellar's broom like that?" Kira asked, sighing in exasperation. Stellar Loussier was a blonde haired girl with reddish-purple eyes about their age who served as one of Cagalli's attendants, she was currently off duty.

"It was the only way that I could get him to leave! Otherwise, he would have just kept on talking!" the princess replied before collapsing onto the bed that she was sitting on in frustration, "Why does father insist on sending these people here? How come I can't just choose a person that I actually want to be with?"

"Because it's the law, Cagalli; you're supposed to be married-"

"-to a prince before my birthday, I know," Cagalli sighed and put a hand over her face, "But that law is so stupid, Kira, I want to marry out of love, not arrangement."

"But Cagalli, you know that you're not allowed past the gates."

"I know that!" she practically screamed, "It's just…I really don't think that it's fair."

"Cagalli…"

"Kira, do you know what I really want?"

"What is it?"

"I want to have friends who will accept me for who I am, not just because I'm the princess," she sighed, "I mean, sure, I do have friends here, but they all treat me so formally. What I really want is a true friend who can understand me, even just one. And…maybe see the market up close for once." There was silence for a minute before Kira was struck by inspiration.

"Hey! I've got an idea!" he said, "Maybe we can arrange with mother to have you go out to the market with Stellar! Of course, you'll both be wearing disguises so that no one will recognize you."

"That's….great!" Cagalli beamed, pulling him into a tight hug happily, "Oh, Kira, you're the best brother ever!"

"Um, it's okay! Really!" Kira stammered, blushing a bit, "Come on, let's go now and maybe we can convince her to let the two of you go tomorrow." She nodded before letting go and soon, the two were walking quickly down the hallways of the palace, lit by enchanted torches the glowed brightly but produced no smoke. After a few minutes, they arrived at their parent's chamber and knocked, waiting for permission to enter before opening the mahogany doors.

"Oh, Kira, Cagalli!" their mother said, looking up from her patchwork, "I wasn't expecting you! Please, sit down." The two nodded and before long, they had told her everything and now awaited her response. A thoughtful look came to the queen's violet eyes that Kira inherited and finally, she smiled. "I think that it is a good idea," she nodded, "I'll tell Stellar and make arrangements for you two to go tomorrow."

"Really?" Cagalli asked, a smile of her own forming on her face, "Oh, thank you! I love you so much!"

"I do too," their mother laughed, "Now, go get some sleep. I'm sure that you'll want to leave early tomorrow. But remember, come back in time for meals and please try to stay out of trouble. Also, no one must know who you are, so keep your identity a secret, okay?" At Cagalli's nod, the queen dismissed them and the two went back to their rooms, with the princess eager for morning to come.