If glowing lights and gorgeous dresses could constitute for love, then Gray would be sorted. What, with the countless women lining up to meet him, in hopes that they'd catch his fancy and make their families proud. But unfortunately for him, that's not how the world works. The world couldn't care less about him. So all he could do was suck it up and just sit and wait as the hundred or so ladies lined up to meet him in hopes that he would find a bride in one of them.

Glancing over at his parents, he frowned, he didn't want to let them down and he knew that they wanted him to find a bride. It was the only reason that this ball was taking place. Still, as the next lady came up, after the previous one ran off crying, he could only see lust for his money and power. There wasn't a single glint of compassion for him in those irises, those blue eyes full of greed.

This was the second ball that his parents had thrown for him and it made him wonder whether or not he was worth caring for in the first place. He had had very few people in his lifetime, that actually cared for him on a personal basis, outside of his family. And he had grown to resent this position of power. Every breathing moment, all he wanted was for one true connection to find its way into his life; in a world that only saw him as an object.

With a sigh relief as his mother allowed him to take a break, he headed over to the snack table and took some food and a drink. His eyes wandered around the room, watching the guests especially those that he had disappointed with his lackluster performance. He didn't want to hurt anyone, and he really didn't want anyone to feel the way he had, his entire life... but didn't he deserve this one wish?

His eyes dimmed and flickered with his selfish dream, and his cold irises lowered to the floor, partly in shame. With a deep breath, he gulped down the building emotion with wine, and glanced back at his parents. His Father was happily nattering away with old acquaintances and friends and strangers alike, whilst his Mother met his gaze with concerned but loving eyes. She stood up and began to make her way over to him, whilst a pair of guards trailed her. Waving them off as she approached her son, she took a few grapes before turning to the son who had outgrown her.

"Haven't any of them been suitable?" She asked, calmly, though in her eyes, there was a storm of pure and unrelenting love for her son.

"They're all beautiful and well-mannered. They'll all find happiness in someone, someday." Gray replied, quietly.

"But you can't be that someone?" Her voice always had that soothing and trusting nature to it, and it always calmed him down.

"No... there all too fascinated by my jewellery and money." He responded, as they wandered to the side of the dance floor.

"You want someone to fall in love with you, right?" His Mother's question was more of a statement, not that Gray tried to hide anything from his mother because she ALWAYS found the truth.

"Mmm." He nodded, sullenly.

"I know how you feel, but if you give one of them a chance, I'm sure they'll come around for you." The Queen smiled, hopefully.

"Am I not enough on my own?" Gray whispered, miserably.

"Of course you are, Gray." His Mother responded immediately, her eyes widening in horror at the stark realization of where these insecurities were coming from.

"Then why haven't I found one woman who cares about me and not my power?" Gray said, lacking any actual anger though. He just sounded tired and upset.

"They do care, Gray. You're the future king." But his Mother sounded more and more uncertain with each syllable passing through her lips.

"No. They don't care." He didn't even give her a chance to respond to that. "They care about my position. They care about my money. They care about my power. They care about jewellery and dresses and fancy things. They care about all the materialistic things. But I'm not an object. No matter how much the world thinks I am."

"Gray, you're not an object, you never were." The Queen shook her head, and crossed the last few inches to her son, and wrapped him in her arms, before whispering. "But you know that you need to find a wife, eventually."

"I know. I don't want to let you down, but at the same time, I'd be willing to do almost anything to find someone who loves me for the person beneath the crown." Gray replied, returning the embrace and resting his chin on his mother's head.

"Are we not enough?" His Mother parroted his words from earlier, causing a noticeable jolt to pass through the Prince.

"Of course you are!" The raven squawked in surprise, removing his mother from his arms, so he could look her in the eye. "I love you, I really do, and I want to make you happy and proud! You've always been enough!"

"But…" His mother pressured.

"But… aren't you… umm... required... to love me?" Gray muttered, solemnly, his hands dropping away from his mother as any and all fight drained out of the Prince, his eyes drifting back to the floor, like gravity.

"And…?" A small smirk made its way onto the regal woman's lips, though that went completely over the younger man's head.

"And, you won't be here forever. What'll happen after your gone?" Gray whispered, all of a sudden sounding like a young boy who was terrified of the dark. "I don't want to be alone."

"You're never alone." She replied, her voice once again morphing into the contained and content tone that was almost natural at this point due to her position.

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Gray sighed in exasperation. He frowned, seemingly giving up on the conversation as it wasn't going anywhere useful, he turned and walked back to his throne to endure the rest of the evening. He didn't look back once, as his mother froze for a moment before following him with darkened eyes. He knew that if he did look back at her, he would instantly regret what the note he had left it on more than he already did.

Plopping back down in his seat, his cobalt irises glimpsed up, as a pretty woman with blue-dyed hair ascended the last few stairs and curtsied in his presence. He saw the imperfections in her altered hair, as her natural brown was beginning to seep through the roots. When she rose once more, he could see the light pink of her blush wafting over her cheeks and ears, behind her powdered complexion, as her eyes glowed at the chance to meet with Prince Gray! A deep sigh left him, as he forced a gentle smile back onto his lips, and addressed the woman politely, though his smile never reached his eyes.

The ball was over, and Gray was finally allowed to retire to his room. And yet again, not one woman stood out to him - not one lady had the quality that he was searching fruitlessly for. Sitting down on the edge of his large, king-sized bed, he almost crumbled into himself, under the sheer loneliness that he felt, as it hit him that he had let his parents down once more through his refusal to find and accept a wife. And now that he was surrounded by darkness, the ache in his hollow heart was even more potent. Swallowing down tears, despite the privacy that his room granted, he began to slowly disentangle his limbs from the uncomfortable clothes he had been wearing for the past few hours. Chucking them at his dresser, he fell back onto his bed, staring up at his ceiling that made him feel so small. He rolled onto his side and curled up into a small pile, as he stared out of the window at the endless, starry sky.

His eyes quivered in their gentle, yet distant light and he nearly rolled over to face away from the countless pinpricks of light that illuminated the dark. But something held him there, and all he could do was stare gravely at the inky sky. After ten minutes, the raven sighed as he realised that sleep would not come so easily. So, up he got, and over to his bookshelf he floated. Standing on his tiptoes, he could just about reach the top shelf, where his most precious book laid dormant.

It was the first book - the first gift - that he ever remembered receiving from his parents, it was a big collection of many traditional fairy tales that spoke of 'Once Upon A Time' and 'Princes' and 'Princesses' and most of all, 'Happily Ever After'. It was one of the few things that was guaranteed to relax his mind nowadays, and though yes, he was probably a bit too old to be reading these, the book held so much meaning for him. It was his strongest link to a time where he wasn't so lonely, and he could play with his parents and the servants alike, with his smile never faltering, and him being in the prime of life without realising it.

The cover of the book was caked in dust and most of the protective layer had worn away, leaving the decade old fabric exposed and vulnerable. The gold bindings that ran up the spine were also cracking away to reveal strands of string and straw braided together in a rope that held his book together. Even most of the words had been erased by the hands of time at this point, but Gray's eyes had fallen upon this book so many times over the course his life, that he knew each and every word off by heart that lay between the two ends of the book.

He flipped the paperback open, and in the light of the moon, his eyes instantaneously softened as he saw Aurora dancing among the paper forest and the paper animals. She sang the most beautiful song, with only the trees and Gray to hear. But she didn't care, or even seem to notice how isolated from the world she truly was. Not until she met her Prince and her world was suddenly so much brighter. His lips never did form a genuine smile that night, but his general demeanor was so much lighter than it had been earlier. Turning to face the window once more, he imagined himself in Sleeping Beauty's place. Dancing and singing without a care in the world. Completely invulnerable.

Maybe…

No, that was a stupid idea, and Gray knew it was.

But…

...Just maybe…

It could work for him too.

Aurora didn't find her love because of a ball or some arrangement, she met him through sheer will of destiny. She lived as a peasant for the first 16 years of her life, without any knowledge that she was actually the most wealthy teenager in the entire land.

Maybe…

If Gray was given the chance to the show the world who he was, with all of his privileges stripped away. Maybe that one special person really was out there, and he just had to be brave enough to take the leap for that one special person...

Feel free to point out any spelling or grammar mistakes, they're all very useful to me.

Welcome to 'The Mighty Me'. This is my entry for the GrayLu Secret Siblings Exchange on Tumblr - though I am struggling to find a way to keep this anonymous, so I might end up giving up on the secret part. My giftie is seulpeun-sonyeo. I really hope you enjoy my little fanfic, Nem! This has been an idea bubbling in the back of my mind, so thank you for giving me a chance to use it! I'm glad I held onto it now. This fanfic has 5 chapters, all of which will be published over these next 5 days (today is included in that). I might put in an afterword post-fanfiction, but we'll see. I do have a FAQ sections in the 'Notices' part of this book - so that I don't have to interrupt the actual content with Author's Notes, not that this would have anything worthy of an Author's Note anyway.

Word Count: 1918

~ Jaci