Disclaimer – Unfortunately, I don't own anything. Pleas read and review but most importantly – ENJOY!
A/N – Hey, second chapter! I've already written the thid chapter so hopefull it won't take long for me to update. This is a Takari story, with several other couplings. Please review to tell me what you think and enjoy reading!
Six years ago, along the road that led to Kari's family home, the King had been traveling home from a trip away. He had been away from his hone for many weeks on business and he missed his family very much.
But he was not a King that would ignore it if one of his people was being hurt. As he traveled along one of the back roads, as to avoid any attacks, he saw a young boy struggling with a much larger man. This man was carrying a dagger and he kept trying to attack the boy with it. Men behind them laughed at the couple, some drew their own weapons.
"Stop the carriage!" The King had his men challenge these men laughing at the boy's struggle while he himself went after the man attacking the young boy. His men were successful in fighting the men and soon they were fleeing from the scene. The man trying to kill the young boy got away but the King had kept him from hurting the young boy.
"Boy, what is your name?" The teenager lifted his head and the King was greeted with deep brown eyes. His brown hair stood on end from the fight.
"Taichi Kamiya, sir."
"Where are your parents?"
"The robbers took our house by surprise; they killed my mother in front of me. I ran as to distract them from my sisters." The King nodded and looked towards his carriage.
"Do you know which way is to your house?" The boy shook his head.
"No sir, they blind folded me on the way here and I have travel many hours with them before they got bored and attacked me."
"Son, I cannot help you find your family now. Will you come back to my house, where you will stay until we have found your family? Will you come with me?" The King held out a hand, and with a moments hesitation, Tai took it and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.
And that was how the royal family got their third son. After many months of searching for his family, Tai began to lose hope. He stayed with the royal family and soon became part of their family. It took some time for the two Princes to adjust to this new person in their home. The youngest son had less trouble accepting this new member to the family but the oldest son had much more trouble. Many fights broke out between the two before they were accidentally locked in a room together. Once let out they had become the best f friends.
After a years stay with them the King and Queen asked Tai if he would join their family officially. After much thought Tai accepted and he was adopted.
Now he had been living with them for six years and he had grown into a young man. But he still looked for his family, knowing the chances of finding them now were small but still not giving up.
"What are you doing, Tai?" The twenty year old looked up to be greeted by the smaller version of his best friend. Takeru, or better known as T.K, was the youngest of the three brothers and the only one of the family to not know the full story of what Tai had been through. Tai would tell him, one day, but every year that passed the teenager still kept his childish innocence and Tai was finding it hard to break it.
"Just looking at the results of another search." The blonde boy nodded, his sea blue eyes watching his elder brother carefully. Everyone knew of Tai's searches and no one interfered with them.
"Well, father wants to see us. I think he and mother have had another fight and he wants our support." Tai laughed before putting away the paper he was reading and following the younger boy.
The King and Queen did fight a lot but they usually made it up afterwards. Lately the King had been involving the three brothers, saying that they needed to get used to the sound of a woman's voice yelling at them for when they got married. Tai and Matt would often side with there father while T.K sided with their mother. It usually ended with everybody laughing.
"Wants to see all of us today?" A voice called and the two boys turned to see another blonde heading towards them.
"Hey Matt." Yamato, or rather Matt, was the eldest of the royal children and the proper heir to the throne. Since he had been adopted Tai had been placed as third heir to the throne, after Matt and T.K.
"Wonder what it's about today." The three walked towards the throne room but heard no shouting. The three boys shared a look before entering, Matt first followed by Tai and then T.K.
"Ah boys, come in, come in." The boys followed at their father's instructions and walked forwards until they were standing in front of their parents.
"Your mother and I have been discussing your futures and we are worried."
"About what?" Matt asked and their mother smiled.
"None of you have settled down with any body. And your father and I wish to see you happy before we have to leave."
"You're leaving?" T.K asked and the Queen shook her head.
"No darling, not any time soon we hope. But one day we will be gone and we want to have seen you happy and settled down before that comes." Tai and Matt shared a worried look.
"So, what are you suggesting?"
"A royal ball. In honor of you. But don't worry, it is a masked ball."
"That's supposed to make us feel better?" Matt asked as he and Tai shared amazed looks.
"But I'm only sixteen." T.K pointed out and their father laughed.
"We know that, son. Obviously this is more for Matt and Tai but we also want to see you happy. If you meet someone, you meet someone. I will not hold it against you. You never know with these things." The youngest Prince grinned before turning to his brothers.
"Come on guys, it's not that bad. Like dad said if you meet someone you meet someone. There's not a lot you can do about it." He grinned at his brothers, which melted both of them and they both nodded their agreement. The Queen beamed.
"Finally, I might have some female company around here!"
For the next few months the three brothers barely saw their mother as she was too busy preparing the up and coming ball. At the beginning T.K had been the only one of the three actually looking forward to the event. But soon his enthusiasm rubbed off on his brothers and they too began to look forward to the royal event.
Soon the months towards the grand ball became weeks, then days. Then the actual day itself came. The palace was a buzz with activity, servants rushing around and making last minute changes or preparations. The ballroom itself was practically unrecognizable to the three boys that had spent years playing in its wide space. After a quick look at the spectacular room they were rushed off to their rooms to get ready.
An hour before the ball was due to start the three Princes emerged from their rooms dressed in their finery.
Tai was dressed in A dark blue while Matt was dressed in a practically black suit. It turned out to be one of the darkest shades of blue there was. T.K was dressed in dark green. When their mother saw them she practically wept with happiness while their fathers' chest swelled with pride.
"You are going to shock every one. Just look at them, our handsome buys all grown up."
"Not quite." Matt commented elbowing T.K gently. The younger boy just grinned.
"Are you ready?" Their father asked and, with a quick look between themselves, the three boys nodded and their parents led them towards the ballroom, and the rest of the evening.
Everybody who was anybody had turned up to the ball, the Queen had done a good job with the arrangements and soon the ballroom was swarming with people.
The boys met up with old friends, whom the Queen had invited to make sure her sons didn't disappear half way through the night. The Lords' sons Ken, Davis, Cody, Izzy and Joe had all turned up and the boys were now catching up on the months that they hadn't seen each other.
Slowly more girls started appearing and the Queen approached her sons.
"It's time to officially open the ball, so masks on." All eight boys nodded and put their masks on, masking their appearances. Matt and Tai had to leave as they had to greet each of the guests. They would have to stand on a podium and bow as the guests walked towards them and stood beneath them. This part of the ball did not involve T.K, which the young Prince was extremely glad about.
"Aren't you glad you aren't them?" Ken whispered to the blonde as the long procedure started. T.K nodded before going back to watching his brothers.
Both looked extremely bored, but only T.K could see that as he had spent years watching them. As they had grown up he had idolized the pair more and more. He was so proud of being able to say that he was related to them. Both of his brothers had changed over the years, grown up and T.K was left behind. But if he ever felt lonely one of them would always turn up, accidentally or not, and he would be happy again. Many people said that he was never sad and that he was an inspiration to the whole Kingdom, his brothers liked to tease him about that. But if they were sad he could easily cheer them up and that was what he considered his best quality. He couldn't stand to see people unhappy or alone and would do anything to make them happy again.
At practically the end of the ceremony T.K noticed a young girl entering the ballroom from the back entrance. He wondered why she was entering this way as this entrance had only been used at the beginning of the ball. She looked around her, obviously confused and T.K realized that she had only just arrived.
"Excuse me." He felt Ken's, Davis' and Cody's eyes on his back but he didn't care. He strode towards the girl as if he had all the courage in the world, but he didn't. He didn't even know why he wanted to meet this girl so much; he just knew he had to.
As he neared she turned her back towards him so to get her attention he tapped her on her shoulder. The contact sent a shiver down his spine and as she turned he was met with a pair of beautiful light brown eyes.
"Can I help you?" He asked as he bowed. The young girl curtseyed as he bowed and then she smiled. And T.K was absolutely gob-smacked. As she smiled her whole face changed, making her even more beautiful. And her eyes seemed to light up with an unearthly light.
"I think I'm late arriving, do you think I've caused any inconvenience?" T.K had to smile at that.
"I don't think you've caused any inconvenience. But why should you worry? You are a guest here, you shouldn't worry." The young girl bowed her head slightly before replying.
"I am a guest of a host who has worked very hard to make this a special occasion for everyone involved. I would hate to ruin it for others." The blonde Prince was liking the young girl more and more as she talked. Her voice was light, gentle and even caring. He nodded.
"Well, I assure you that you have not ruined anything. And as a guest you are here to enjoy the night. For tonight, you can let other people worry." She smiled again and he grinned back. There was loud applause and T.K turned to see his brothers coming down from the platform thay had had to stand on when greeting the guests. Couples were filling up the dance floor and T.K extended his arm towards the beautiful girl.
"Would you like to dance?" She smiled and took his arm, allowing herself to be led onto the dance floor. There, they paused for a moment before embracing to dance.
"Where's T.K?" Matt asked as they rejoined their friends. Davis chuckled as Cody pointed out the blonde on the dance floor. Both Matt and Tai stared in shock for a moment before smiling.
"I had no idea our brother was such a fast mover."
"Tai!" Matt scolded as the others laughed. They stood chatting for a while before splitting up, Matt and Tai being signaled by their mother to join her. It took them a few minutes to reach her, meeting friends or accidently bumping into other people. The ballroom was packed.
"Have you seen your brother? Already dancing with a girl. Now why can't you two be like that?" The Queen's words were light, showing that she didn't really mind and that she, herself was extremely enjoying herself.
"The night is still young, your majesty." Tai replied and the Queen laughed. The Queen kept them for a while longer before her husband joined them to have a dance with their mother.
"Watch how the experts do it." He told his sons before whisking their mother onto the dance floor. The two boys laughed before splitting up to do some tours of the ballroom.
Tai walked around and joined the groups that were forming at the edge of the dance floor. He chatted with many guests, a lot of girls, but alaways moved on before being asked to dance. After he had walked all around the room he stopped to look for his brother but couldn't see him anywhere. He turned to see if T.K had stopped dancing yet but collided with someone.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't see you!" The person exclaimed as they bounced off of each other. The female person. Tai looked up to see the most gorgeous girl he had ever seen. He stood in a daze for a minute before shaking his head.
"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going and turned around before checking. Are you alright?" The girl in front of him nodded and smiled. Her eyes lit up with her smile and a sense of deja-vu hit him. Did he know this girl? He got the felling that he knew her but he couldn't place her.
"I'm fine thank you, are you alright?" He nodded, pushing the feelings of unease to the back of his mind.
"I'm ok, I'm just worried about you. I think I…bumped you pretty hard." She laughed and he grinned. "Would you like another drink?" He asked, indicating the empty glass in her hand. She nodded and they began walking towards the drinks table, albeit very slowly.
As they walked past one of the many large windows of the ballroom, that gave brilliant views of the beautiful palace gardens, a figure looked in and smiled at the couple.
Matt had wondered outside to get some fresh, cool air. The ballroom could became awfully stuffy very quickly, and in more ways than one. He loved coming outside, the gardens being one of his favourite places in the palace. When they were younger, He and T.K and spent hours playing hide and seek in the large gardens. Then Tai had joined them and he had got them into playing soccer. That was how one of the large ballroom windows had gotten broken. He laughed out loud and smiled to himself.
"Excuse me but are you mad?" Matt turned in surprise to be greeted by a finely dressed young woman.
"May I ask what gave you that impression?"
"You were laughing to yourself when you were out here on your own." Her expression was comical and Mat laughed again.
"I was remembering something." Her mouth formed an 'o' shape and then she smiled.
"Okay then, just checking. Now if you'll excuse me I've got to go meet some Princes." She turned to leave but Matt couldn't help himself. He didn't usually broadcast the fact that he was a Prince but this was a special occasion.
"What if I told you that you'd already met one of them." He called and she stopped dead on her way back into the ballroom.
"You're one of the Princes?" She asked as she turned around. Matt grinned and nodded. A smile suddenly took over her features and she rushed forward.
"Well, it's nice to meet you. My name is Mi- wait, are we supposed to say our real names? It is a masked ball after all." Matt laughed at her and the pair began chatting away. They stayed outside, still talking even as the evening got colder. Hen he noticed the young woman shivering Matt took off his jacket and slung it around her shoulders.
"If you're cold we can go inside." The divine lady shook her head and they stayed outside, still talking. Finally Matt decided that it was too cold to stay outside any longer and he led her back inside.
The rest of the evening went by in a blur of pleasure for all the guests. The King and Queen were delighted to see all three of their sons dances with girls, even some of their friends had paired up with someone. They grinned and laughed at the success of the ball.
T.K was on the dance floor again, he was sure that he had never danced so much in his life and he definetly knew that he hadn't enjoyed dancing this much before. With each dance that he had spent with this girl they had got closer and closer. He could now feel her body heat and he knew that she could feel his. He had never felt like this before.
"What time is it?" She murmered into his hair and he sighed.
"It's mid-" He was cut off by the clock chiming the first chime of midnight. The girl in his arms stiffened and straightened to look in his eyes.
"Midnight?" She whispered, as if she was afraid of it. Worry niggled in his stomach as she turned to the door she had come in through.
"Yes, why? What's wrong?" She pulled away from him and walked off the dance floor. T.K followed her in complete confusion. As they left the ballroom he grabbed onto her hand.
"I don't understand." Her head was down and he used his forefinger to lift her dhin up so she was looking into his eyes.
"It's midnight." She repeated and, as if to prove it, the clock struck the second chime of the hour. "Goodbye!" She suddenly pulled away from him and bega to race towards the exit.
"Wait! I don't even know your name! Please wait!" He caught up with her and turned her to face him. "How will I find you again?" The clock struck again and, once again, she broke out of his grip. A carriage was waiting at the bottom of the stairs and she fled towards it. As T.K followed she triped and her shoe came off. She didn't fall and so kept on running. As he reached her left behind shoe she reached her carriage and sped away.
T.K picked up the shoe and stared at it for a moment before slowly making his way back towards the ballroom.
"I'll find your owner. I swear I'll find her."
A/N – Hey, hope to update soon. Review to tell me what you think and stay tuned folks!