Characters: Mostly Ataru and Lum and the rumic gang

Theme: Romance

Play

Ataru was perfectly calm, of course since he acted before in Megane's crazy stories however he was not used to take the role of the handsome prince, that role was perfect for Mendou and his pride.

This change of mind was thanks to Shinobu, who was the writter and director this time, he was ready to protest when his friends congratulated him, Inuyasha was weirded out by his prince outfit which was funny, Ranma came with some tips to help the nerves, Rinne admired his history in acting and Mao, being almost as lost as Inuyasha still wished him luck.

Sometimes he through he didn't deserve his friends, they were too good to him.

Before begining the play they came to make him feel more at ease and calm.

But he still was in deep throught and it was backed up, because Lum was being pretty secretive about it with the girls about her outfit, heck he knew the outfits they were gonna use, after all the movie "The Swan princess" was the perfect reference for the sewing club, it even helped for the final script, so why was the need for them to not act with their costumes in the essays?

Well now he knew why, after he finally saw her in the princess dress, he could hear the girls giggles as they walked with Lum towards them and even his friends were snorting behind his back.

"Good luck, prince Derek" Lum said with a smile and Ataru knew that she wasn't playing fair.

"Same to you, princess Odette" Ataru grinned, managing to gain some compusure after that low hit.

The princess and prince saw each other in the ballroom, both of them couldn't help getting awestruck after seeing each other, after all they hadn't seen each other for years but still keep conntact thanks to the letters.

"Oh my god Lum looks so beautiful, I am gonna cry!" Kagome said as she held her camera.

She could hear the male audience behind her sigh in devotion.

"Don't cry for something so small Kagome, the threaty thingy just began!" Inuyasha protested.

"Theater, Inuyasha! and shhhhhhhh!" Kagome hushed him and Inuyasha just sighed.

"You're right Kagome, Shinobu is such a genius for basing the outfits on that movie!" Akane smiled, getting a bit nostalgic.

"Yeah and look!" Ranma said as Prince Derek appeared on the scene, gaining surprised gasps from the audience" Ataru really looks and acts like a prince, Can you believe the idiot through he couldn't pull it off? Like of course he can't pull it off like me when I was Romeo but he is super close to that level!"

"Well at least Ataru knows his lines and the story" Akane said a bit irritated remembering that day" not like you that made it end like if it was the sleeping beauty!"

"C'mon 'Kane, you know I tried my best!"

"Hmph!"

"Are you sure about this Odette?" The prince Derek said, holding Odette's hand" we know each other since we were small children and I do care for you but marrying is a bit..."

Sakura held Rinne's hand more tightly as she took a breath, looking so concentrated in the play.

Rinne blushed but continued to see the play with a smile on his face.

"You don't want to?" Princess Odette looked confused and hurt in the prince embrace" I know that this was made for a politic arrengment for our Kingdoms but I do love you Derek.

The prince looked at her with a surprised expression.

"Do you love me Derek?" Odette asked unsure.

"I...I...I don't know" Derek said with a sigh.

"You idiot! you can't say that in this moment!"Nanoka said, holding a handkerchief on her hands.

"Nanoka, calm down" Mao said in a relaxing voice.

"But!"

"I see.."the princess looked down" I am sorry for bothering you, I will try to convince my father to call the arrengment off"

"What?!" Derek became frenetic, he began to search for her eyes" Odette you are not being serious right now?!"

"I am" She finally stared at him and her eyes were full with tears " If I wanted a marriage without love I could easily accept the marriage proposes back at my Kingdom"

"Damn, Ataru looks really jealous after he heard that line"Inuyasha grinned.

"Inuyasha, is prince Derek that is jealous, remember that this is just a play but..."Kagome smiled, knowing what her partner through" He's a really good actor, it really looks natural"

"Odette, what do you mean by that?!" Derek was feeling an emotion he never felt before because it was a mix of confussion, anger and sadness, all at the same time.

"What you heard!" Odette said feeling exposed as she cried" I...I wanted to marry you because I fell in love with you but maybe it was an error, I was only thinking about myself, please excuse me"

And with that the princess ran far away from the prince, who was left bewildered and didn't talk to him until the party was over, when it was time to say goodbye.

Odette was sad and Derek felt devasted when he noticed that he was the scum of earth, because he just made his bestfriend cry.

It didn't help him when her carriage dissapeared after that, her father appeared dead days after and only Odette's necklace was left in his hand.

Akane was crying and Ranma's arm was already behind her back, making her come closer to him as she sobbed quietly.

Odette woke up in a abandoned castle and she cried for help, she was confused and unsure of why she was there.

Hours passed until the mage who captured her appeared and told her she was his bride to be and they could rule the kingdom his father left together, but she refused his advances and the man full with anger cursed her.

"You want to escape? to fly far? then you will have that as a swan" The mage showed a wicked grin" only in this lake and at night, will you go back to your true form"

"That bastard!" Nanoka hissed.

"Nanoka" Mao began with a serious tone.

"He is one, Mao!" Nanoka said as she pointed the actor who acted as the Mage.

Still the princess wanted to go back to her true love, so she waited days until the mage finally let her out of her prision at the castle and let her swim in the lake.

As a swan she flew towards the forest where Derek used to practice his hunting and prayed for the best.

Her efforts payed off when he followed her, holding his bow, ready to shot the swan.

Sakura held her breath as Rinne did.

But he didn't shot, he looked how the swan touched the lake, magic and shining water was covering it up the swan body and in a blink the swan just dissapeared and before him, was Princess Odette wearing the beautiful dress he last saw her with.

And he ran towards her, huggin her close, he began to tell her how he searched for her and how he still does, how desperate he was to find her and how much he missed her.

Mao noticed tears in Nanoka's eyes and silently held her hand.

"I am so sorry Derek!" Odette said, crying" It was all my fault, if I wasn't so emotional, I should have acted as an adult!"

"No, No, No" Derek said as he kissed her tears away" You were not wrong, is okay to express yourself, sure it wasn't the best way but we are not perfect, heck, I also acted like an idiot"

The female audience romatically sighed.

"No!" Odette protested" I pressured you! when you weren't sure about your feelings and I acted as a coward"

"Well yeah but I was an idiot, I didn't notice how much I loved you until you were gone" Derek said in a low but passionate voice.

The audience gasped, there were some weird female noises.

"Derek..I..."

"Odette! Where are you?!" The raspy voice of the Mage could be heard and the princess turned pale, the prince noticing this change asked her what was wrong and about who was the owner of that voice.

"He is a powerful mage, he captured me and cursed me because I told him I didn't want to be his bride!"

"Well then, is time for me to fight him and put off this stupid curse you have!" Derek said as he took his bow out before Odette interrupted him.

"Did you not hear me?!" She said worried" He is a MAGE, he can cast any spell on you!"

"But-"

"Please escape! We...will see each other the next night!"

"Alright, alright! I will go but" Derek said holding her beloved hand" I will search for a cure for this damn curse and I want you to invastigate too"

" I will try but first please go!"

"Kagome..."

"Yes?"

"What is a mage?" Inuyasha asked genuily interested.

"Is a person that can curse and throw spells like fire, darkness , water and other stuff"

"Like Tsubaki?"

"Kinda"

"Shit, he is scary then"

"Eh? you were scared of Tsubaki, Inuyasha?"

"Of course, she was making you suffer and I couldn't kick her ass!" He said crossing his arms.

Kagome just gave him a lovely smile and leaned on one of Inuyasha's shoulders.

The prince and the princess searched and in their own ways figured out that the best way to break the curse is with an 'Act of True Love', both of them blushed as they tried to understand what that actually meant.

"Maybe is me marrying you, if we do that I need to present you to my mother again, so we can go with the engagement"

"But when? her Majesty must be busy"

"Well, there will be a ball at night tomorrow, you can go there and I will present you as my fiance"

"Oh..."She blushed" I see..."

"I am so thankful that Kagome is recording this because they are so into it!" Akane said smiling.

"Yeah, we wil have proof to mess up with Ataru later" Ranma grinned.

"Ranma!"

Althrough not everything was going to turn better, the Mage discovered Odette's plan and locked her up.

"I hate the mage so much, I wanna hit him" Nanoka whispered angrily

"Nanoka.." Mao began.

He then sent off his loyal assistant, making her look like Odette, telling her that the plan was simple, making Derek think she was her so he could propose to her and not Odette, breaking any chances to break the curse.

The fake Odette arrived at the ball and a smiling prince Derek went with her, they danced and as soon as their second dance was over, he went with her, hand in hand with her mom.

"THAT'S NOT HER YOU IDIOT! GO BACK GO BA-!" the four girls standed up, they were all so into the story and before they could say more the got stopped by their respective significant others.

Odette managed to escape but when she finally arrived in her swan form to the palace, she saw how Derek announced his marriage with a girl that looked like her, her heart broke, making her flight make errors as she crashed with the doors of the palace, the hit made people uneasy and the prince ordered to open the doors, what was his surprise to see a swan he knew so well fly away, he looked for the Odette he danced with and she was gone.

It was a trap.

The prince was furious after knowing that he was tricked by the Mage and he went towards the abandoned castle with his horse, ready to make him suffer.

The forest was eerie but he didn't care and went inside, he arrived by the lake and saw the beautiful swan breathing slowly in the floor, he held it in his arms and the swan slowly transformed into Odette.

She was in a really bad state and he needed to take her fast to the castle.

There was a laugh and the prince placed Odette slowly to the ground in a safer place, Derek took his sword out.

"HELL YEAH" Inuyasha shouted.

"How dare you abduct her? how dare you curse her" Derek was getting angrier as he spitted those words" HOW DARE YOU HURT HER?!"

"She didn't accept me, so I will make her never accept anyone" The mage gave a malicious smile.

"YOU TRASH!"

"You know that a battle against me is instant death right?"The mage laughed" Even if you kill me, a thing I doubt you will do, there are no changes of you surviving"

"I don't care" The prince said with a serious tone" If I can save her life and give her the opportunity to life a happy life even if it isn't with me, will be enough for me"

Then the battle began between them, the prince was clearly at disvantage but he managed to evade the attacks of the Mage.

"This is getting good" Ranma said in the verge of his seat.

The prince threw the mage everything he could find in his way.

Rinne gulped.

When the mage was ready to kill him behind his back, the prince stabbed his stomach with the sword.

Mao eyes opened in surprise.

And the Mage body fell to the ground, a pool full with blood in his place.

"Derek.." A weak voice called him and he quickly went towards his beloved, she was gaining conciousness and he was so happy he was sure he almost cried.

The sun began to rise and she was still in her human form, the curse was finally broken.

"Oh my god girls here comes the final, get your handkerchiefs ready" Kagome said already feeling the tears coming out.

"Derek" The princess Odette was in the balcony of prince Derek's room, looking at the sunset.

"Yes Odette?" He said with a handsome smile.

The female audience gasped and sighed as they swoon.

"I never thanked you for saving me" She smiled shyly.

"Well, that's because you don't need to"He responded with a tender smile as he slowly put his arms around her waist.

"I will still say it and...I really still love you" She said dreamily.

The male audience sighed.

"And I also love you, a lot" Derek said before closing his eyes slowly, Odette followed and was slowly gaining height as she was getting on her tip toes, making their lips getting closer...

Until they connected with each other, creating one of the softest and beautiful kiss that would put any love kiss to shame.

The entire theatre cheered after that.

And the two actors playing the prince and the princess were still kissing each other even when the curtains fell down.