Well, here's my first finished fic. I've tried to work within the game's timeline as much as possible, and I was simply inspired by how much JadeXPeony is already there. So here is one take on how the lovely pair came to be...enjoy!

Ch. 1 - Overture

I believe I first started to love him after he took his fist to me. My emperor. Nearly as delicate as his name would suggest, and he hit me in the name of morality and redemption. Two areas in which I did not measure up to his standards, to say the least. I'll never know why he cared to redeem me. Why he counted me as his friend, even then. It wasn't as though I'd been particularly friendly to him.

My first impression of a ten-year-old Peony Upala Malkuth the Ninth: a sniveling out-of-town noble who would never make it year-round in my arctic hometown of Keterburg. He'd been forced North in his exile from the imperial city, and though it was doubtlessly an under-wraps escape, his taking up residence there was immense news, even for a tourist destination.

I remember watching, from our perch in the play-yard, over the heads of many onlookers, his gilded carriage arrive from the port. Saphir and I stared, unmoved, as the little shivering, red-faced prince was lifted from his coach onto foreign, icy ground. He was already looking curiously around him as his chaperones hurried him indoors. The whispers trickled back toward us, about the poor traumatized boy whose life been threatened, along with his father's, by the war between kingdoms. Keterburg, they said, would be his new home, and we must all do our utmost to ensure his happiness and comfort here…

"Please," said Saphir. "We needn't do anything. People only stay here for the Summer! He'll be miserable no matter what we do."

I had to laugh as cruelly as a nine-year-old can, at that. "Well, doesn't mean we can't help him with that at least."

Saphir grinned in his evil way—the way I was secretly always trying to mimic. "Jade! Be nice."

The little heir was seemingly never allowed outside of his house. We'd sometimes wander by the huge mansion, feigning disinterest, but we never caught sight of him. Word was that his father, paranoid and bent on upholding his only remaining son's birth score—which stated that he would be the future emperor of Malkuth—kept him safely imprisoned.

To our mortification, however, Saphir and I found ourselves sharing the classroom with him one day.

"Now what?" Said Saphir, straightening his silver-white hair contemptuously.

"Now Professor Nebilim devotes all her attention to his majesty," I groaned.

My mistake: he'd heard me. I saw the straw-haired boy craning around in his desk a second too late and making contact with my death glare. Immediately he smiled. It was a bright smile that seemed beyond politeness.

"Hello."

I stared for a second, then retracted my glare, slightly.

"I didn't know you went to school here."

"I don't…" said the boy. "Neither Father, nor any of the servants know I'm here. Please, don't tell them, okay?"

Taken aback, I just sneered at him, and then pretended to be distracted elsewhere.

Professor Nebilim gave our guest a warm greeting. At the end of class, I saw him approach her nervously and ask something. She seemed to nod, speaking to him in a hushed voice. Most likely inviting him to sneak into lessons, I thought with distaste. After that first day, however, I was pleased to notice that he received no special treatment. My place as her top student remained mine alone. To bolster my rank, however, I began exerting perhaps even a noticeable effort. I began to inch closer toward the front of the room, picking desks closer and closer to her until Saphir objected. We came to a compromise and ended up half-way to the front, at about the same distance as Peony's desk. He of course put forth no obvious effort into succeeding—he was just, naturally, likeable. He had a decent mind, too, I could soon tell. He required little help from other professors in the areas of arithmetic, literature, world study and fonon theory. And in Nebilim's fonic artes class, though he possessed no real power, he was adept at the basics. But at least I had the skill and power. No one forgot this. I spent most classes teaching my colleagues the spells I had mastered years earlier. My true education came from my private lessons with Nebilim.

When I found myself bragging, one day, to Peony, about my progress with the sixth fonon under her tutelage earlier that day, he gave me his bored congratulations. Of course I was incensed. I hardly noticed Saphir giving me the cold shoulder for the rest of the day. But then he had always been strange. I was used to his possessive attention, and probably even enjoyed it.

One evening, we were studying at my house after a particularly intriguing lecture, only to be interrupted by a rapping on the outside of my window. I couldn't be sure what surprised us more—that the frost-soaked, glowing Peony had managed a successful escape and had found his way to my house, or that he had picked our company to escape to. He'd brought with him as a token and source of entertainment three little dolls from his collection. Apparently he enjoyed dolls. Needless to say, we enjoyed scoffing at this for some time. But our guest caught us off-guard when he armed one of them with a little sword and then started swishing and poking at both of us.

This gave Saphir an idea.

"Let me see that one," he said, picking up the monster doll.

"Help yourself," Peony grinned.

I watched intently as he began to mutter under his breath an arte that sounded unfamiliar to me. What finally resulted were little strands of light connecting different limbs of the doll to each one of his fingers by several inches' distance. As he moved his hand gingerly, the figure would twitch and move along the ground or the air, completely and remotely under his control. Peony smiled, impressed.

I fumed, "Why didn't you tell me about that one?"

"Oh, I don't know," he spat, "maybe you were too busy with your lessons with Nebilim!"

I was caught off-guard, and could only glare. Peony, however, interjected.

"You're both very talented, anyone can see that. Just… don't worry about it."

We stared at him, and somehow came to a mutual agreement that our bad mood was his fault.

"Yeah, what are you good for?" Poked Saphir.

"Well, I'll rule this country one day, and all of you," he said, confidence beaming from him.

"What good is an emperor who can't defend himself?" I asked.

"That is what I'll have my loyal guards for," Peony smiled at us. "You both should come work for me, later!"

"We'll have more important things to do!" Saphir shot in. "Won't we, Jade."

I maintained a haughty look, neither confirming nor denying.

I can't say we ever would have admitted to counting him as our friend. As the months went by, however, I know we grew more and more accustomed to his company, whether we were between classes at the academy, or he'd snuck out from his protective, luxurious prison. We even began helping him to escape. I couldn't be sure whether this was for his benefit, or for the excitement of breaking rules set by his father. Either way, we began to grudgingly enjoy our time together.

My younger sister was an entirely different story. From the first day Nephry came into my room, uninvited, to find the three of us in the midst of a board game, she was smitten with the young emperor. That evening, she'd insisted on intruding upon our party and joining in the game. Being a gentleman, Peony had vouched for her, and I was obliged to admit her. She shrugged off mine and Saphir's complaints. Naturally, she hit it off with Peony, and from then on he never failed to invite her to join in all of our activities. In a matter of days, they were best friends. She'd go so far as to sneak into his house. They were soon spending much of their time together, apart from us. Luckily for Saphir and I, this meant we had more time free from the both of them.

It was finally time to exercise my fraternal responsibilities when, two weeks after they'd met, they proclaimed themselves betrothed. I wasn't even trying to dash my sister's hopes—I was merely being realistic.

I'd taken her into my room, attempted to place sympathy onto my face, and told her in as gentle a tone as I could manage, "You know, you can't really marry him, he's the emperor. And you're a commoner."

She began to cry. "You're so cruel, Jade!"

"I'm trying to point out the obvious, Nephry. Apparently you can't see it."

"He's the emperor—he can marry me if he wants!"

"No, even emperors can't make that okay. He's going to find a noble girl, and marry her. It's only proper that way."

"I hate you!" Said my sister, stomping out of my room and closing the door dramatically. I vowed, right then, never to fall in love. Obviously love induced ridiculous behavior .

After that, I left the relationship alone. It was probably a mistake. But how was I supposed to interfere with the tenaciously happy couple? The situation was more convenient for me, as well. They kept themselves occupied, Saphir and I had an endless source of inspiration for ridicule, and I had more time to myself to devote to training.

One day, however, Peony was courteous enough to ask me for my sister's hand.

"I know I've made it obvious a while, Jade, but I want to address this formally."

He'd interrupted me while I was reading. I peered down my nose at him, my feet still propped up on the tea table.

"Hmm?"

"I'm in love with Nephry. She is my first and only love, and I'd like to marry her."

"I know that." I pretended to get back to reading.

"I'd like to have your blessing!" He insisted.

"Well…" I hesitated. "Sure. Whatever."

"So, 'yes'?" His crystalline blue eyes beamed at me.

"Yes!" I said, annoyed.

"Oh thank you, Jade! It means the world to me!" He ran over to me then, threw his arms around me, and, before I could react, planted a firm kiss on my cheek.

"Ugh!" I yelled, wiping it off furiously. "Get off!" He was already halfway across the room, though, skipping out the door, and, doubtlessly, off to see my sister. But it was probably the first time he'd touched me, to speak of, and I sat there, mortified. It was certainly the first time I'd been kissed since I'd started shrugging away from my mother several years prior.

I remedied my shame by walking straight over to the academy to see if Professor Nebilim was busy. I hadn't bothered to bring a scarf or hat with my coat, and though it was a warm day for Keterburg, the wind had still bitten my cheeks red by the time I peered through the door to her office.

"Hello, Jade," she smiled, surprised. "Oh you're all pink! Did something happen?"

"Just the cold, Professor," I said.

"Ah. I'm guessing you're here for a lesson," she said knowingly.

"If you're not busy."

We found our usual vacant classroom, and went over the artes I'd been working on that week. As always, she praised my progress, and showed me some modifications to the spells, making them stronger and more challenging for the following week. As usual, however, I wasn't satisfied.

"Please, show me the seventh fonon."

"Oh, Jade Balfour, not today."

"Please, Professor. I'll never understand it if you don't even demonstrate the proper uses."

"We've been through this. It's not that you don't understand it," she said. "Believe me, Jade, I know that if it were in your power, you would already have achieved it. You aren't lacking in skill—you simply don't have the capacity to use it. And I've told you, seventh fonists are quite rare."

I was silent for a second, crushed, as I regularly was after these discussions.

"Then please, just let me see it?"

She sensed the sincerity of my plea, and relented.

"Alright, just watch, though."

She pulled out her small, silver dagger from her coat pocket. I wondered sometimes why she always kept it there. But I held onto a hope that it was for my academic benefit. To teach me the healing artes of the seventh fonon.

With the dagger she drew a narrow but deep cut along her arm.

"Mine too," I said, holding out my arm.

"Don't be ridiculous," she scolded.

Soon her deep red blood was shimmering upon the white skin below her rolled-up coat. I was entranced with it alone, until she began her spell.

For a moment I forgot my ambition and jealousy, and was simply awed by the soft green glow that obeyed her words, beaming from her other hand and enveloping the wound. I imagined I could almost see the tiny fonon particles coursing from her, through the air and down to bind and smooth her skin. I imagined what it would feel like to control these particles in a spell meant to heal—to mend—to give life, instead of only to destroy. I didn't see why I couldn't have this power. What made it so different from the others?

I stared at her arm until all traces of green light had vanished.

"That's all," she cut in.

I was still entranced with what I'd seen. "But what's the difference? I want to learn. I want to know everything. I should be able to use the seventh fonon."

"Jade," her tone was soft. "Having great power can bring sorrow to people. You're trying too hard to get more than necessary. Doing so may lead to your destruction one day. Please—leave it alone."

"….Yes, Professor."

Needless to say, I didn't leave it alone. As I often did, I stayed after her in the empty classroom. At times like these, mostly I would practice the artes I had already mastered. But my curiosity and longing could not resist that which was withheld from me by the world. My attempts at the seventh fonon always yielded new and unexpected results, but never the ones I was looking for. Often I could use these experiments to further my studies in other areas, but never did they resemble anything like healing.

Nothing came of my recklessness for some time. Instead, I developed a new skill. I couldn't tell you exactly why Nephry came running to me when her favorite doll—the one Peony had given her—broke. It was beyond perfect repair, and I was under the impression that she still hated me, so I'll never know what she expected me to do about it. But in the instant that she brought the thing to me, crying because it was special, because it was from him, the thought just floated to the forefront of my mind. Why not re-create it?

I took it from her, concentrated, and the mere vague idea I had in mind was realized in a fonic arte. As I held the broken doll, another one was created right before our eyes. It was identical to the first, and intact. When I offered it to my sister, however, she did not accept it happily but backed away, eyes wide. I didn't understand what made her so afraid.

No one knew of my success with the new science for some time except for Saphir. And before long, under my tutelage, he too was a master of fonon mimicry. Based on Nephry's reaction, we decided to keep these activities between the two of us.

It wasn't until my pride overcame, me and I described to my Professor just what I'd accomplished, that anyone attempted to talk sense and basic morals into me. She began to make me understand the fear in Nephry's eyes. Either it was my love for Nebilim or her success in distracting me with lessons that made me halt my experiments in fomicry.

Needless to say, Saphir was perturbed by my change of heart.

"You need to think for yourself, sometimes," he told me one day.

"What makes you say that?"

"It's that Nebilim. You just let her rule your life."

"She does not rule my life. She's brilliant, and I think she's right. If you're talking about replicas again…I agree with her. We shouldn't do that."

"Shouldn't, or won't? You're just too devoted. I hate—her. I hate her!"

Normally I would let Saphir's outbursts pass without much thought. This one seemed out-of-the-blue, however. Even for him.

"…What is it?"

He pouted. "She's always in the way."

"You don't hate her," I said. "She's taught you all you know, too."

After a bitter silence, he relented. "I don't…hate her. But, I wish…"

"What?"

"I wish you'd spend more time with me." He looked pointedly in the other direction.

"You're crazy," I said. "I'm always with you. And I'll always be."

This made him smile and his violet eyes shine a little brighter.

Keterburg and its inhabitants existed without ado for some time after that. Nephry joined us at the academy the following year, and Peony continued to escape his house in favor of our company. I continued to refine my artes under Professor Nebilim, and she kept wearing down my ambitions and my power lust. By the time I was thirteen, I had ceased killing the area's indigenous creatures in the name of training and science. But I did not stop trying to master the last fonon.

Nephry and her self-proclaimed fiancée did not give up their dream of being together forever. It wasn't until Peony's father, the emperor, supposedly made a visit to Keterburg, that they were forced to see things practically.

"My father just came to see me," said Peony, as I listened from beyond the door Nephry had left ajar. I did not see it as too unfair—she'd not made sure it had latched.

"Oh?" Said my eleven-year-old sister.

"He—I told him about us." I could tell, even through the muffled sound, that he was despondent. "He says it can't be."

"What?" She said in disbelief.

"He told me that… either I abandon all thoughts of marrying you, or—or I never get to see you again. Move away from Keterburg."

"No… but, you're going to be the emperor! You can do whatever you want."

"Maybe someday," he said. "Right now…maybe it would be better to be friends, and still be together, then to have to be apart. I don't want to lose you."

She said nothing, but I sensed her agreement. About then, I realized I was better off not eavesdropping. I said nothing about it to them later, and neither one mentioned anything to us. Nothing in particular changed between them, either. They were best friends, as they always had been. The only difference being that they spent less time with each other alone, and more as a group with us. I had mixed feelings about this, and I know Saphir would have preferred it as just the two of us.

This was probably why he became even more insistent on following me everywhere.

"I'm going to practice. Alone." This time I was truly trying to gain some privacy.

"You're always alone. Let me just watch! Or—or I'll spar you." He ran after me, growing out of breath.

"I'd hurt you," I warned.

"Don't be so sure!"

Our arguing lasted until we both stood in a classroom in the academy. We were alone, or at least I assumed. I knew that Nebilim often worked late, but I had not seen her.

"What are you doing?" Asked Saphir.

"What I always do when she doesn't know I'm here," I said.

"You'll do it." He smiled at me. I ignored him and began to concentrate.

I searched around my mind and body for a new power—anything that might lead to the one element I had not made contact with. But I was only met with the familiar.

Frustrated and enraged, I dug into myself deeper, only to pull out something that I had not bargained for.

I opened my eyes just in time to see a fiery explosion burst from my fingertips. It swept through the room, until everything was ablaze. Saphir had barely managed to dive under a desk. The spell did not stop within the room. I heard it smashing through the walls, seeking a wider range. By the time I had leveled my head enough to recall my magic, it was far beyond my control. My own spell was now beginning to trap us inside its inferno.

I grabbed Saphir and we crawled through the door just in time. He were running through the main hallway when he shouted my name and pointed back into the building. The dim silhouette of my professor, surrounded by flames, was laboring toward us.

We were able to reach her and carry her outside before she collapsed from suffocation, only to watch the academy go up in flames of its own student's making. I could only stand there and watch as it burned, everything only beginning to sink in.

"Hey, Jade! At this rate Professor Nebilim will die!" Saphir recalled my attention to the ground, where our teacher lay, her blood darkening the snow all around her. I could tell he was right.

"I'll make sure to save her," I told him, regaining my calm.

"How?"

"Fomicry. I'll create a replica of the professor."

He only stared at me for some time.

"Hurry." I finally jarred us out of our shock, and we carried the professor's dead weight further into the safety of the cold, dark snow.

Thanks for reading! I'd appreciate reviews very much-like it, hate it, or any other critique, and if there is interest I'll post the rest of these!