Title: Just a Kiss
Disclaimer: I swear on my Ranma ½ OVA that I do not, nor have I ever, owned InuYasha: A
Feudal Fairy Tale.
Summary: Jaken, a Lord under King Sesshoumaru, is reluctant to pick a bride. After spurning one
too many a prospective bride, a witch casts a spell on him so that he may forever be as ugly on the
outside as he is on the inside. The only way to break the spell is to find someone willing to kiss
him...[Jaken/Rin]
Prologue: Once Upon a Time...
Once upon a time, there was a young lord who loved himself very much. He loved himself
so much that there was no room for anyone else in his heart–not even a new wife. He spent much of
his time poised before his mirror, surveying what he considered a very handsome face in his
reflection. Like Narcissa, he was constantly transfixed by his own features, so much that all else
became second in his mind and in his heart, leaving those in his care to fend for themselves in a
world that offered no assistance.
The only son and heir to his dearly deceased father, it was his duty–no, privilege–to continue the
family line and sire those who might carry it further once he too departed this living realm. His
retainers begged him to pick a bride so that he might continue his family lineage, but he refused and
sent away any prospective brides, claiming them all to be too dull or too ugly and unworthy of his
lordship.
One day, the young lord granted audience to a beautiful young girl who was both charming
and graceful. Though young, she was indeed wise for her years and excellent company. Her beauty
was rivaled only by the ladies of the high court–even the queen herself. Her skin was a soft, milky
white and her cheeks flushed with a rosy hue when she laughed. Her smile could warm the coldest of
hearts and her laugh was as light as wind chimes, and twice as musical. Her dark hair fell in a thick
sheet to the small of her back when released from its bonds and shone like a ravens wing. Many a
castle guard and servant became smitten with this delightful young woman, the youngest and last
unmarried daughter of a baron to the east.
Even the mighty lord had a trying time coming up with anything foul to say about this girl,
this Ai. She was intelligent, sociable, beautiful and everything a proper lady of her station should be.
She would make a perfect bride for a man of his stature!
In the end, however, he sent this young girl away too, claiming her to be too young for a bride
though she was more than two years past the coming of womanhood. With silent, agonized tears
streaming from her eyes of the purest and unadulterated azure, the young baroness departed from the
castle of the young lord, heartbroken at his cold nature.
Not a week passed before the name of this young woman passed his lips again, however,
when her grandmother, the old and crippled crone of the far east mountain ranges, came to call. "You
have tread upon my granddaughters heart and good name!" she accused the young lord. "I will not
let this pass!"
"Begone, old crone." the young lord responded, dismissing her from his presence. "She was
unsuitable for marriage. My mind will not be changed."
The old woman then raised her hands and cried to the heavens above "May this young lord of
the south know such great shame as he has bestowed upon my lineage! May the ugliness of his heart
spread to his outer image, coating his skin with the black, mangled skin that coats his heart! May his
back be hunched and crippled as is his distorted as is his feeling for those other than himself! May the
world know at a glance what sort of man he truly is!"
With that, the lords body shriveled and his spine curved into a hunch. His clothing slipped
from his shoulders and pooled around him on the floor, the once broad shoulders and chiseled body
reduced to feeble, weak flesh. His skin darkened until it was very nearly green and his skin, once full
of the elasticity of youth, sagged and clung loosely to his face and body while round, bulbous eyes
were pulled open in fear. His once solid stature was now wraith-like in appearance and unable to suit
even his greatly diminished weight. With a cry of fear and dismay, the young lord–now aged thirty
years–fled from the audience of the exuberant old witch, her dry cackling ringing in his ears as he
hobbled away from his estate, disappearing into the night under the cover of the new moon.
Before he fled, the witch gave him a single parting glint of hope; "The spell will be lifted
when you meet a girl who will willingly kiss you as you are now with unconditional love and
understanding. Only then shall you regain your previous form and your honor restored to you."
The young lord travels throughout these lands to this day, his hope long since lost amidst a
sea of despair and utter self-loathing. It has been ten years since his departure from his own lands and
he has yet to find one soul kind enough to touch their lips to even his wrinkled brow, much less one to
bestow upon him a kiss of unconditional love and understanding. Now he only searches for his king,
his final glimmer of hope being that his mighty lord would help him find a cure for his condition. For
until this spell is repealed he will walk the earth by night, nocturnal in nature only to spare himself
the disgusted glares of those who would have once gazed upon him in reverence, appearance
thankfully hidden away by the darkness.
Authors Note: I know its slightly disturbing thinking about a Jaken/Rin relationship, but I don't think
it's really so bad. Not if you think of him as a human in disguise, anyway. Pardon if the prologue is a
little choppy at the end....my attention is slightly divided at the moment ^^;
R/R
~*Ms Videl Son*~
Disclaimer: I swear on my Ranma ½ OVA that I do not, nor have I ever, owned InuYasha: A
Feudal Fairy Tale.
Summary: Jaken, a Lord under King Sesshoumaru, is reluctant to pick a bride. After spurning one
too many a prospective bride, a witch casts a spell on him so that he may forever be as ugly on the
outside as he is on the inside. The only way to break the spell is to find someone willing to kiss
him...[Jaken/Rin]
Prologue: Once Upon a Time...
Once upon a time, there was a young lord who loved himself very much. He loved himself
so much that there was no room for anyone else in his heart–not even a new wife. He spent much of
his time poised before his mirror, surveying what he considered a very handsome face in his
reflection. Like Narcissa, he was constantly transfixed by his own features, so much that all else
became second in his mind and in his heart, leaving those in his care to fend for themselves in a
world that offered no assistance.
The only son and heir to his dearly deceased father, it was his duty–no, privilege–to continue the
family line and sire those who might carry it further once he too departed this living realm. His
retainers begged him to pick a bride so that he might continue his family lineage, but he refused and
sent away any prospective brides, claiming them all to be too dull or too ugly and unworthy of his
lordship.
One day, the young lord granted audience to a beautiful young girl who was both charming
and graceful. Though young, she was indeed wise for her years and excellent company. Her beauty
was rivaled only by the ladies of the high court–even the queen herself. Her skin was a soft, milky
white and her cheeks flushed with a rosy hue when she laughed. Her smile could warm the coldest of
hearts and her laugh was as light as wind chimes, and twice as musical. Her dark hair fell in a thick
sheet to the small of her back when released from its bonds and shone like a ravens wing. Many a
castle guard and servant became smitten with this delightful young woman, the youngest and last
unmarried daughter of a baron to the east.
Even the mighty lord had a trying time coming up with anything foul to say about this girl,
this Ai. She was intelligent, sociable, beautiful and everything a proper lady of her station should be.
She would make a perfect bride for a man of his stature!
In the end, however, he sent this young girl away too, claiming her to be too young for a bride
though she was more than two years past the coming of womanhood. With silent, agonized tears
streaming from her eyes of the purest and unadulterated azure, the young baroness departed from the
castle of the young lord, heartbroken at his cold nature.
Not a week passed before the name of this young woman passed his lips again, however,
when her grandmother, the old and crippled crone of the far east mountain ranges, came to call. "You
have tread upon my granddaughters heart and good name!" she accused the young lord. "I will not
let this pass!"
"Begone, old crone." the young lord responded, dismissing her from his presence. "She was
unsuitable for marriage. My mind will not be changed."
The old woman then raised her hands and cried to the heavens above "May this young lord of
the south know such great shame as he has bestowed upon my lineage! May the ugliness of his heart
spread to his outer image, coating his skin with the black, mangled skin that coats his heart! May his
back be hunched and crippled as is his distorted as is his feeling for those other than himself! May the
world know at a glance what sort of man he truly is!"
With that, the lords body shriveled and his spine curved into a hunch. His clothing slipped
from his shoulders and pooled around him on the floor, the once broad shoulders and chiseled body
reduced to feeble, weak flesh. His skin darkened until it was very nearly green and his skin, once full
of the elasticity of youth, sagged and clung loosely to his face and body while round, bulbous eyes
were pulled open in fear. His once solid stature was now wraith-like in appearance and unable to suit
even his greatly diminished weight. With a cry of fear and dismay, the young lord–now aged thirty
years–fled from the audience of the exuberant old witch, her dry cackling ringing in his ears as he
hobbled away from his estate, disappearing into the night under the cover of the new moon.
Before he fled, the witch gave him a single parting glint of hope; "The spell will be lifted
when you meet a girl who will willingly kiss you as you are now with unconditional love and
understanding. Only then shall you regain your previous form and your honor restored to you."
The young lord travels throughout these lands to this day, his hope long since lost amidst a
sea of despair and utter self-loathing. It has been ten years since his departure from his own lands and
he has yet to find one soul kind enough to touch their lips to even his wrinkled brow, much less one to
bestow upon him a kiss of unconditional love and understanding. Now he only searches for his king,
his final glimmer of hope being that his mighty lord would help him find a cure for his condition. For
until this spell is repealed he will walk the earth by night, nocturnal in nature only to spare himself
the disgusted glares of those who would have once gazed upon him in reverence, appearance
thankfully hidden away by the darkness.
Authors Note: I know its slightly disturbing thinking about a Jaken/Rin relationship, but I don't think
it's really so bad. Not if you think of him as a human in disguise, anyway. Pardon if the prologue is a
little choppy at the end....my attention is slightly divided at the moment ^^;
R/R
~*Ms Videl Son*~