Alex

Alex was writing, as usual.

This wasn't his usual type of writing, though. Normally, Alex wrote essays, real essays inspired by parts of his life that he wanted changed. Sort of like what he had written for Eliza.

But today, he was writing a story. It was a story about far-off places and kingdoms, with battles and dragons and heroics. There were princesses and queens, and fairies and unicorns. Alex smiled. He couldn't help but imagine himself as the hero of his story, a low-born orphan who rose to fame in the king's army, catching the attention of the good princess Kate and falling in love with her.

He closed his eyes and imagined the king proudly kneeling before him and handing him a sword. As the crowd applauded for him, he looked at his princess. But for some reason, it was the very real Princess Elizabeth he saw, and not his fictional princess Kate.

Shocked and disgusted, Alex opened his eyes, only to see Princess Elizabeth standing before him, in real life.

"What are you doing here?" he spluttered.

"She's scoping," the girl behind her giggled.

"Who are you?" Alex said, frowning. Why were these people visiting him? What did they want from him?

"Princess Angelica Schuyler, pleased to make your acquaintance," she said. But why was she smiling like that at the other princess?

"Charmed," he replied, with an eyeroll.

"My sister talks about you all the time," she continued.

"I do not!" Princess Elizabeth replied, shoving her sister. Alex felt her respect for her rise.

"Could the two of you cut the chase and tell me what you want?" Alex grumbled. What on earth were these foolish, idiotic princesses doing?

"Why should we want anything?" Princess Elizabeth replied.

"Uh, because you're a princess?" he said. "All princesses want something… They even sing songs about it."

"Please," she scoffed. "You can call me Eliza." Behind her, the other princess was grinning wickedly.

"But why are you here?" he asked.

"Well," Eliza started, "I was rereading your writing, and I've decided I want to do something about your condition."

"Really?" Though his brain warned him against it, Alex allowed hope to fill him for the first time in years, just for that moment. He trusted Eliza, though he wasn't sure why.

"No, I'm here to fill your head with false hope and then fly into the night cackling evilly on my broomstick," Eliza rolled her eyes. "Of course really, you idiot!" She playfully punched him.

"I'm not an idiot!" Alex exclaimed. "You've read my writing!" He rubbed his shoulder, where she had punched him. For a princess, she really packed a punch.

"You seem like one to me," Princess Angelica interjected.

"Ignore her, she's a bit cynical," Eliza replied. "Now, as I was saying -"

"Nope, sis, I'm going to have to stop you here." Princess Angelica turned to Alex. "If you're not an idiot, then prove it."

"Prove it, Princess?" he repeated idiotically. He snorted at the irony.

"Yes, prove it," Princess Angelica replied. "And you can call me Angelica."

"Fine. Read my writing," he said, handing an essay on equal rights in politics to her. "I'll give you a moment now."

Angelica stepped away, engrossed in his essay, and he smiled. He had won that battle. He turned to Eliza.

"So what are you here for?" he asked her. "Phase one of your grand plan?"

"Erm… not exactly," Eliza replied sheepishly. "I… uh… haven't actually asked my parents about it yet…I'm sure they'll say yes, though," she finished. "After all, I am going to be queen."

"Then what are you here for?" he asked.

"I just wanted to… uh… let you know. That I'm helping you." Eliza smiled hopefully.

Alex was at a loss for words. She had come all this way just to let her know?

"Thank you, I guess, for letting me know," he replied, shrugging.

"I like talking to you, too," she admitted. "You're much more interesting than all of those palace idiots. Except General Washington."

"You're much more interesting than all of these idiot orphans, as well," he replied, then shuddered. "It's like living with twenty real life Tom Sawyers."

"Ick, that's terrible!" Eliza replied. "I can see how it wouldn't quite suit everyone, especially you," she smiled.

Eliza's gaze fell on Alex's story. "What's that?" she asked, casually.

"Just a story," Alex replied, trying to sound equally casual. Please don't let her read it, please don't let her read it…

"Ooh, a story!" Eliza picked it up and started to read it.

Shit.

To his great relief, she put it down after one page. "A war hero!" she exclaimed. "Do you fancy yourself as one?"

"Kind of," he admitted.

"I'll say," she said, frowning. "Hey! I just thought of something!"

"Yeah?" he asked her.

"Well, this morning I was at a meeting with my parents and General Washington," she started. "Apparently, we're going to war. With a dragon!"

"Wow," Alex couldn't keep the awe out of his life. "What over?"

"Oh, I don't know, something stupid, like a territorial dispute, probably," she replied. "But we're supposedly really lacking in soldiers." She looked at him.

"You want me to fight?" he asked.

"Well, that is, if you don't mind risking your life for a kingdom which has done nothing for you in all of your life," she answered, looking down. Was that shame he saw on her face? Alex didn't know, but he felt bad for her. After all, what she had said wasn't entirely true.

"There is nothing more that I want to do," he told her earnestly. "And that's not true. Your kingdom has given me a beautiful princess to talk to."

"Aww, well," she replied, tossing her hair. "If you want to do it, I'll talk to General Washington. I'm sure he'll be open to the idea."

At that moment, Angelica walked in. Alex groaned. What would she say about his writing? But to his complete surprise, she got down on one knee in front of him.

"Alexander Hamilton, let me express my utter shame and embarrassment at calling you an idiot," she said. "Your writing showed to me that not only are you not an idiot, you are a pure genius with the potential of changing my life. I can only hope that you will accept my apology."

"Yeah," he replied, shocked. "Yeah, I accept. I've never heard such things about my writing. I'm absolutely honored."

"They're all true," Eliza reassured. "As I said, your writing could get you places."

"Wait…" Alex's brow furrowed as he looked at the two sisters together. "Eliza, you said you were going to be the queen. But Angelica looks older than you."

"So?" Eliza replied defensively, taking her sister's hand.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to touch a nerve there," Alex said, genuinely contrite. "I'm just confused. Is Erudite more… progressive than the kingdoms I read about?"

"My sister is more progressive than the princesses you read about," Eliza replied, cryptically.

Alex looked at the two of them, at the unconditional love in Angelica's eyes as she looked at Eliza. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I gave up my throne to Eliza," Angelica said, bluntly. "She would make a far better queen than I."

"Wow," Alex replied, impressed. "That's very… big of you."

"Technically, even I am not guaranteed the throne," Eliza said. "I will be queen if and only if I find a suitable husband to be king."

"What?" Alex said, confused. "Shouldn't you get unconditional queenship?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Angelica replied. "For everything I went through to give up the throne to Eliza, shouldn't she get it unconditionally? But no, this society is just sexist."

"It is," Alex replied, turning to his papers. "I should write a piece on that."

"Yes, please do," Angelica replied. "Eliza, come on, let's let him write in peace."

"I hate to say it, Alex, but we probably should get going," she said, pity written in her eyes. "I'm sorry to be leaving you to the mercy of the orphanage, but we'll keep in touch, okay? And I'll talk to General Washington for you for sure."

"Huh?" Angelica said, looking at Eliza.

"Talk to you later about that," she replied.

"It was nice talking to both of you," Alex interjected. "If all princesses are like you, then the world really is in good hands."

"See you next time!" they said, walking out the door.

'Angelica and Eliza were really something,' he thought. 'Beautiful, smart, witty…'

Alex looked at his paper. Though he wanted to write about sexism, he had to finish his story up first. He put pen to paper and began to write.

...and our brave hero, Andrew, lived happily ever after, with his princess Kate to love and cherish always.

He smiled. A happy ending always made a fairy tale so much more enjoyable. This story was complete.

But why did he still see Eliza's face instead of Kate's? He wasn't romantically attracted to her in any way…

"Never mind," Alex said. "I'd best not write any more romance stories. They really play with my head." He turned to his other paper and started writing.

A/N:

Hi guys! I am so so sorry for how long it's been since the last update, but I was away, and then I had writer's block, and then I had another idea, and anyway, it was a long while before I could get back to this.

So I'm officially going to end this story at Yorktown. If you want to read something about grief, check out my two-shot The Struggles of Grief. I wrote it on the spur of the moment, and I really hope you like it!

Hope you enjoyed the Hamliza I sprinkled throughout this! I'm sorry it's so short, I promise there will be longer updates in the future. If you liked the story, please please please review! Reviewing really encourages me, and chances are, if I get reviews, I will write faster and update sooner.

That's all, and stay beautiful! :)