A/N: Hey guys! I'm back in action and finally have a fresh new story for all of you! Yay! I just got back from Europe yesterday and this story was inspired by our awesome tourguide, Patrick! And therefore, this story, finished or not, is dedicated to Patrick, for endlessly supplying wisdom, encouragement, information, and fun! You're the best, Pat!

Thus, our story begins.

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LORELEI

I cannot divine what it meaneth,
This haunting nameless pain:
A tale of the bygone ages
Keeps brooding through my brain:

The faint air cools in the gloaming,
And peaceful flows the Rhine,
The thirsty summits are drinking
The sunset's flooding wine;

The loveliest maiden is sitting
High-throned in yon blue air,
Her golden jewels are shining,
She combs her golden hair;

She combs with a comb that it golden,
And sings a weird refrain
That steeps in a deadly enchantment
The list'ner's ravished brain:

The doomed in his drifting shallop,
Is tranced with the sad sweet tone,
He sees not the yawning breakers,
He sees but the maid alone:

The pitiless billows engulf him!—
So perish sailor and bark;
And this with her baleful singing,
Is the Lorelei's gruesome work.

By Heinrich Heine
"Loreley-Lied" (1822)

translated by
Mark Twain (S.L. Clemens)
in "A Tramp Abroad" (1880)

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Story by
The Anti Fluffy

Prelude

Sure, I was like the stereotype for any male: afraid of commitment, scared of being attached to one woman for the rest of my life. That was a pretty good summary of my romantic life. So inevitably, being a tour guide was naturally my area of expertise. I was constantly up and around, so much that I no longer needed an apartment of my own because I wasn't around long enough to actually live in it. So I gave away my little room in London for some extra money and whenever I wasn't traveling, I hung out with some friends or stayed at a low-star hotel or motel—whatever was cheaper. And when I was very desperate, I stayed with my mother.

Again, I emphasize very.

Living was basically not on my worries list because Hanabi Travel, the travel company I work for, paid for my meals and hotel rooms while I was directing a tour. It was so I could "focus on giving the tourists their moneys' worth" as the director of the whole program put it.

Being afraid of commitment influenced my relationships and my job. I would never see a person from my tour ever again in my life because simply, most of these people came from halfway around the world. My fear of commitment engulfed a lot of my life too and the way I did things. But that wasn't 100% of the singleness issue. My bachelor-ness issue. Some of my friends suspect it, but women intimidate me sometimes. I think it has a lot to do with my mother.

But that's beyond the point.

My life doesn't have any time for relationships or romantic midnight strolls through the park with a background orchestra. I'm constantly in different countries, working, and doing what I love the most—traveling. I was in high school for 2 years, then I graduated. I was in college for 3 years when I graduated with a major in European History, was on the Dean's List, Valevictorian, full marks, and I got a really, really cool hat that came with my graduation gown. Before the age of five, I already knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to travel. And I travel I got to do because before I entered college, Hanabi Travel had already hired me. And I hadn't even sent out an application.

I started my training a week after I was done with college. They explained to me that I would sacrifice a lot for the job. I told them that I was devoted to this career and would sacrifice anything to do what I loved most.

I learned quickly that they weren't joking about sacrifice. Sometimes, I'd direct tours that lasted nineteen days long. Then I'd get a day to rest and prepare for my next tour, that was thirty days long.

If I were with a woman, I'd maybe have the opportunity to see her once or twice a month. At the most.

Some people get the idea that I'm completely content with being single.

Well, I'm not. It gets awfully lonely waking up in a king-sized bed with no one to share it with.

But the last thing I'm planning on doing is grabbing a random woman I have no interest in and bedding her. Not only is that disgusting and un-gentleman-like, it's not fair to her. And I've had plenty of women (and men) offer themselves to me.

I know I sound like a complete sap and a hopeless dreamer, but I'm waiting for The One.

The One that I can't stop thinking about and fills my dreams. The One who I can talk to for hours and never get tired of talking to. The One who is beautiful inside and out.

Capital T and O.

To put it simply, princesses like this don't roam the streets in herds.

The question that plagues me though is. . .

Would I be willing to give my life to her? My career, the only thing that matters to me?


A/N: Yay! The prelude has been typed and I hope you enjoyed it!! I still have more to write, so please review and help me out here!! Praise me or tell me to burn in H-E double hockey sticks...hopefully not the latter. Oh yeah, and CCS doesn't belong to me...the poem "Lorelei" doesn't belong to me...but the idea for the story and "Hanabi Tours" belongs to me...unless that really is a tour company...then it doesn't belong to me.