AN: Hi, guys! This is my first ever fan fiction that I've gotten the nerve to publish here on . I've been writing fan fictions for about three years now and this particular document has been lying on my laptop since November of last year when I discovered the supermegafoxyawesomehotness that is Ben Finn. And, like many other fan girls, I was very upset that he wasn't romance option, so here is my take on a Princess/Ben Finn romance. Please let me know if you see any glaring grammar or spelling errors that I might have missed and know that I'm not quoting the game exactly (I'm working off a very poorly managed memory here!).

Just a fair warning, this will pretty much cover most of the game, with my own scenes thrown in, so there will be spoilers.

So...I hope you enjoy the first chapter of Sparks Fly! Please read and review and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fable 3 or any of the characters.

SPARKS FLY

Chapter 1

"Is that light up ahead? Thank Avo! I was really starting to go mad!" Annabelle cleaned the last of the hobbes' blood off her father's sword while she, Walter and her border collie, Knight, walked to the entrance of the Mourningwood.

"Finally out of that blasted cave," Walter muttered as they stepped into the dimly-lit forest. "Are you all right, my girl?"

"I'm fine, Walter. Where are these friends of yours?" she replied curtly, her emerald eyes scanning the forest.

Walter gave her a fatherly look and let out a sigh. At this, Annabelle felt a slight twinge of guilt at causing Walter such pain. Ever since the incident in the throne room, Annabelle had vowed to herself that she would become strong and independent to save her country, burying the sweet, trusting girl she once was behind a wall of ice and she knew this had upset Walter.

"They're deeper in. I only hope they're still alive," he said ruefully and started marching through the swamps.

She gave him a curious look. "Why wouldn't they be?"

"This place may look harmless, but at night, it becomes one of the most dangerous places in Albion."

Annabelle looked around the marsh with renewed caution. "Then the stories of the Hollow Men are true?"

Walter gave a nod. "The men we're looking for were sent here by your brother to eradicate the threat. He most likely hoped that they would be killed in the process and I'm hoping they survived long enough for us to find them. I trust these men with my life and wouldn't go into a fight without them at my side."

"As long as there is a bath and a warm meal, I won't complain," she muttered and continued trudging through the marshes.

After what seemed like endless stretches of trees and pools of swampy water, the three finally reached a fortress, where they were stopped by a nervous looking guard.

"Cease your movement! Be you men or Hollow Men?" he called from above. Annabelle's hand darted to her pistol strapped to her leg, but Walter's look stopped her.

"Are you daft, boy? If we we're Hollow Men, we wouldn't announce ourselves, would we?" Walter replied.

The guard frowned in recognition. "Walter? Is that really you? I thought…Anyway, I'll open the gate for you." The gate hit the ground with a resounding thud and the three travellers headed inside the fortress. "Tell Major Swift Walter's here!"

Inside, Annabelle saw Walter's face brighten when they were welcomed by a tall, thin, dark-haired man with a very impressive moustache.

"Walter!" the man said in a jolly voice and moved to give Walter a handshake. "Long time no see, old friend!"

"Swiftie! I'm glad to see you're still alive! You always seem to get the best assignments from Logan, don't you," Walter replied and shook the man's hand heartily. Annabelle took a quick scan of the fortress and saw that the soldiers were few and they looked very tired.

"That's true! These damn hollow men just don't seem to stop." The major turned serious. "We've lost some good men. Just last night we lost Lieutenant Simmons and unless we do something drastic, we'll all die before the end of the week. My men are sleep deprived and our supplies are running low." When he finished speaking, his gaze settled on Annabelle. "But enough about me, is this her?"

"Yes. This is Princess Annabelle. Hero and leader of the revolution," Walter replied proudly. "But treat her just like any other pair of hands."

Slightly embarrassed at Walter's description, Annabelle gave a bow and shook Major Swift's hand. "Please, I'm just Annabelle. It's a pleasure to meet you, Major Swift," she said courteously.

"These are the supposed saviours of Albion?" a strange voice asked from behind her. "A princess barely out of her teens and an old nut. I'm going to sleep so much better tonight, ignoring the legions of the dead, of course."

Annabelle frowned at the description of her and Walter and whirled around to face another soldier. His handsome face was arranged in a sarcastic smirk and his cerulean eyes twinkled playfully behind a blond fringe.

"It's good to see you're not dead yet, Wally," he said, his grin growing even bigger.

"Ah, Ben Finn! I'm glad to see you're still alive too, boy," Walter said and greeted the man with a firm handshake. "Still a sarcastic ass, I see?"

Ben Finn burst out laughing. "Yes, well, my devilishly handsome appearance isn't all that attracts the horde of adoring ladies, Wally. You're even older than I remember!"

"Shut up, Ben," Walter replied, with a smile. Annabelle studied the man carefully. He was obviously arrogant and though himself a ladies man, from the way he carried himself and the way he had a permanent smirk on his face. There was a certain scoundrel-like air around him. Everything about him shouted "rebel" and she wondered how he ended up in the army. She took an instant dislike to him, but as courtesy demanded, she held out her hand to shake his.

"And this lovely lady must be the princess. Benjamin Finn, Captain of the Royal Albion Army," he said and took her hand, but instead of shaking it, he brought it to his lips to lay a kiss on her knuckles. His lips caused a bolt of electricity to run up her arm, which she blamed on her new shock gauntlet and she tried to pull away. Unfortunately for her, it seemed the captain didn't notice it and didn't let go of her hand. "Please to meet you, Princess," he added with a sly grin, looking her right in the eye.

"It's Annabelle. Please to meet you, as well, Captain Finn," she said as coldly as she could muster. "Not to seem rude, but may I have my hand back? I might be ambidextrous, but it will be difficult to fight without my sword arm."

Captain Finn shot her another grin and finally let go of her hand. "As you command, Princess," he said, quirking his eyebrows at her. Annabelle regarded the man with an icy stare. He's probably used to women falling over themselves when he does that. Unfortunately for him, I'm not like other women, she thought ruefully.

"Please, call me Annabelle," she insisted and the man simply gave a shrug.

"Sorry, Princess," he replied with yet another grin. She felt anger rising in her veins, but she quickly calmed down. There was something absolutely infuriating about this man and she didn't like the way he affected her.

"Ben, cut it out," Walter interrupted sharply. The man gave a shrug as if to say "what" and Walter shot him a more pointed scowl.

"I never get to have any fun around here," Ben muttered, but suddenly resumed his nonchalant demeanour.

Annabelle shook her head and turned to Major Swift. "Major Swift, I'm ashamed to ask, but is there a place where I could clean up and maybe get some food before tonight?"

The Major regarded her with a smile. "Of course, Annabelle. I can only imagine that this must have been a huge adjustment from your normal life. Not to sound insulting, of course," he added quickly.

"Do not worry about it, Major. It has been and I'm not too feministic to admit that sometimes, all a girl wants is a place to wash her face," she replied with a small smile.

"I like you already, Annabelle." The major turned to Ben. "Ben, show Annabelle where she could have a quick meal and a bath. Afterwards, take her up to the mortar and show her how to use it."

"Sure, Swifty. If you'll follow me, Princess," Ben said and cocked his head to the other side of the fortress. From Walter's reaction, she wasn't the only one who wasn't pleased with the arrangement.

"Ben, I'm warning you. If you're anything less than a gentleman, I'll hound you for the rest of your life, boy," he warned him with a steely glare. Annabelle was a bit taken aback by Walter's vehemence, since he was usually so calm. She surmised that her assessment of the captain must have been correct.

Ben clutched his chest melodramatically. "I'm hurt, Wally. I thought you knew me," he said in a faked hurt tone.

Walter was unmoved. "I do, that's why I'm warning you. Don't forget that she is a princess and a Hero, so mind your manners."

Ben shook his head and motioned for Annabelle to follow him. With a whistle, she called Knight to her and reluctantly followed the blond captain.

"So, Princess-," he started but she cut him off.

"It's Annabelle, Captain Finn," she snarled, but he went on undeterred.

"So, Princess, what brings you out here to the middle of nowhere? Looking for help with the revolution?"

"Yes," she said curtly, trying to hint that she wasn't interested in talking, but either he didn't notice, or he was an idiot. Annabelle was leaning toward the latter.

"So it's just you and Wally? I'm surprised to see the bugger is still alive." He thought for a moment. "No, I'm not. He's probably going to outlive us all."

She decided to ignore the anger boiling in her veins again and didn't reply. While they walked, she noticed the men giving her very inappropriate looks and gestures. Apparently, Ben noticed as well.

"Hey! Quit your staring and get back to work, privates, unless you want to do grave duty tomorrow!" he shouted at the most rowdy group.

The leader of the group shot Annabelle another lurid smile. "Since when do you pull rank, Finn? And who is your lovely friend?" he called back.

"Since you started behaving like an ass in front of a lady and Princess to boot," Ben replied curtly. All the soldiers stopped their antics and the leader of the rowdy group gave a bow.

"Sorry, your Majesty," he apologized.

Annabelle replied with a sharp nod. "Apology accepted. And call me Annabelle."

The soldiers bowed again and Annabelle continued walking, ignoring Ben's grin.

After her quick bath, during which she made sure no one watched by having Knight keep watch, she headed to the huge bubbling pot for a quick bowl of soup. When she approached, all the soldiers fell silent and shot her hidden looks. She ignored them and just when she was about to dish up, she was handed a full bowl by a smiling Captain Finn.

"Here you go, Princess. Eat up and I'll show you how to use the mortar," he said and began eating from his own bowl. "I have to say, you look decidedly more beautiful without that layer of mud, Princess. You're even starting to look like a princess, despite your mercenary clothes."

"The mud didn't seem to confuse anyone else about my gender, Captain. You must have terrible eyesight. How do you even use a rifle?" she replied icily and continued eating. Silently, she was seething about the fact that he was clearly adding her title to his sentences to annoy her.

Unfortunately, the quip didn't have the desired effect because Ben let out another laugh. "I wasn't referring to your gender, Princess, but rather your station. And, just so you know, my eyesight and rifle skills are top notch. I'm the best sharpshooter in the army," he boasted proudly.

"Humble, aren't you?" She drank down the last of her soup and got to her feet. "Nightfall will be here soon. We'd better be on our way."

The captain stood up and slurped down his soup. "Right you are, Princess. Follow me," he said and headed up the stairs to the battlement, Annabelle and Knight at his heels. At the top they were met with a bandaged and clearly injured soldier.

"Private Jammy, at your service!" he greeted them and gave a noisy sniff.

Annabelle couldn't help but her eyebrow at his name. "Jammy?"

"So called because he's the jammiest sod in the whole damn Swift Brigade. He'll be your loader," Ben said.

"Seven-hundred and twenty-four injuries and still standing!" Jammy added proudly.

Annabelle must have shown some of her apprehension on her face, because Ben whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, you'll get used to him. After a while he isn't repulsive at all."

When he stood so close, Annabelle noticed just how handsome he actually was and her heart sped up when she imagined kissing those chapped, but sculpted lips, his strong arms encircling her waist…

What the hell is wrong with me? she thought and jerked away with shock. The captain shot her that infuriating grin and she focused her attention on the mortar in front of her, to calm her thoughts down. Stop it, Annabelle! You're being completely irrational!

"Well, I assume you've never used a mortar before, Princess, so I'll give you the quick lesson. It's actually quite simple. You put your hands there, you aim and you shoot. The most important thing is be careful. There is always the risk of maiming and death from using this thing and I'll hate to see anything happen to that pretty face of yours."

Annabelle narrowed her green eyes at the last statement and placed her hands carefully on the handholds. "Like this?" she asked the captain, not looking at his face in fear that she'll lose focus again.

"Like that if you want aforementioned maiming. Here let me show you," he said and moved behind her, placing his hands on hers and pinning her between the mortar and his own body. Annabelle inhaled sharply and tried not to think of him standing so close that she could feel his strong chest and smell his scent of sandalwood tinged with sweat, smoke and gunpowder. "Don't get excited, Princess. This is just a demonstration," his deep voice whispered into her ear and moved her hands to the correct position with his. "There. Less chance of maiming."

She gave a nod of thanks and ignited the fuse with her gauntlet, aiming at one of the scarecrows below. A direct hit destroyed the scarecrow, but the recoil sent her flying solidly into Ben's chest. "Just like that. You're a pretty good shot, Princess. I wonder if you're as skilled in close combat," he breathed into her ear and she felt herself blush with pride and the fact that he was standing so close. He pulled away and gave her his signature grin. "Now, try the next one on your own."

Jammy reloaded and she aimed at the other scarecrow. Another direct hit. "All right. One left," Ben said.

Jammy's eyes narrowed as he said, "I don't remember setting that one up."

With a start, Annabelle realized what was happening. "Hollow Men! To your stations!"