Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix and Disney do.

A/N: I was prompted to type this chapter after watching a rather cute episode of Petite Princess Yucie. I just got into the show after my mom got me Anime Network on Demand. I love the blonde guy. If you've watched the show, you know him, Kraft or Brad… some name. It's Ark! Yeah, he's freaking hot! So there was my overly girly moment there. It brought me to type up a rather cute chapter of this story. Well, not really, but it'll be pretty satisfactory so enjoy.

Lover of the Lake

Chapter Four: The Journey Begins

It was night time and the lake glowed a calming and beautiful sea green, illuminating the small clearing in its soothing light. Prince Riku laid at the bank of that pond, hand drifting into the water as he slept peacefully. It had been a month since he had first encountered the beautiful maiden he had come to know as Sora Kelly. Slowly, the lady of the lake nursed him to health with her crystal clear water and enchanted herbs from the surrounding area.

Waking up, he looked up to the sky and sighed contemplatively. It had been a long time since the ruin of his country and he needed to leave the small oasis to confront his brother. But doing so meant he would have to leave Sora behind to loneliness. Hearing her story filled his heart with an overwhelming sense of sadness. She had been so miserable to live alone for years that he didn't have the heart to just leave her now.

Looking into the water, he rested his head on his arms and sighed yet again. He had responsibilities to uphold, like it or not. His mother and father in the Lifestream were counting on him to restore his country back to its former glory as the true king. Not only was it his parents but the many men that gave their lives to protect him for those few seconds to escape, the many women and children that were slaughtered, and the people that were now forced to be under his brother's rule.

'I guess I have to go,' he thought as he sat himself back up to a comfortable position. 'I don't know how I'm going to tell Sora. I guess this is goodbye.' A lingering feeling stirred within him as his eyes clouded in sadness. This was going to be the last time that he was going to see her.

"Lady of the Lake!" he called out, rising to his feet in a very princely manner. The waters swirled up and glowed a small array of blues and greens before the beautiful form of the Lady of the Lake emerged, her hair blowing around her as she hovered over the waters. Opening her clear blue eyes, she smiled sweetly towards him.

He, however, averted his eyes from her, pain deep within him. "What is bothering you Riku?" she asked, walking her pale feet across the water towards him. Looking up into his eyes, she placed a hand upon his cheek tenderly. "Tell me my prince, what is hurting you?"

"I have to be leaving soon."

Sora paused at this and frowned slightly. "I only wish that I could take you with me. We could leave this place together and we could find your parents or you could even live with me in my castle if you want," said Riku, blushing slightly at the proposition of living with him.

"Okay."

"Wait, what?"

"I said okay." Sora then entwined her hand into his affectionately, looking up to him. "I'll follow you to the ends of the earth if that's what you want," she said, making him blush even more.

"Well," he started with a cough. "You'll have to learn to be a bit more… reserved, if that's the word for it. People will get the wrong idea if they see you acting this way towards me in public. They'll think were… uh…"

Sora cocked her head to the side innocently.

"Lovers?" she said, her expression not fazing. Riku blinked and then put on a more stoic expression.

"Well, yeah."

"Do you not want to be Riku?"

At this question, the prince then pulled away from her hand and walked over to the horses, putting the packs back on them. 'Oh God this is so difficult. How can a woman say such things and look so innocent at the same time? How could anyone so easily say things like that with a straight face?' he thought as he gave a frustrated sigh.

Then a realization hit him.

"Wait, Sora," he said as she awkwardly began her ascension up the black stallion. She was still trying to swing her leg over the other side of the horse and angrily hiking up her skirts. Watching this, the prince had to hold back a chuckle at her embarrassing situation.

"I hate being in this body! It's of no use whatsoever," she huffed as she finally made it over to the other side with a loud ripping sound to acknowledge it.

"Um… Lady Sora? How are we to escape this forest? How are you to leave here?" Riku asked.

"Oh, um, I don't really know. I do know that I can leave here if folk tales are correct," she said as she looked up in thought.

"Well, what do you mean you don't really know?" he asked, now starting to feel a bit of panic rise up in him. If they couldn't leave, they were doomed. Actually, he knew that he would be doomed, Sora was the Lady of the Lake after all and she shouldn't have any problem if she was stuck there.

"Don't worry my prince, I definitely know that you can get out of here. I've seen many wanderers come and go so I know that there is an actual way out."

Riku mounted his mother's gray mare and pulled lightly on the reins, trying to calm her down just a little. The irritated horse simply stomped its hooves to the ground, shaking its head from side to side.

"Well, lets set out," said Riku, starting the horse to a slow walk. Sora awkwardly did the same, allowing the large black stallion to direct itself close behind.

Within a few hours of riding, the trees once so dense seemed to clear around them, almost in a path, trying to lead them outwards. The sound of birds soon began to come to their ears as they continued onwards. Riku glanced back over his shoulder, watching the Lady of the Lake as she looked around with blue eyes aglow, seeming like a child.

At that moment, a small smile cracked its way upon the prince's face. She seemed really happy to finally be able to escape the cursed forest.

"Lady Sora," he called, facing back ahead. She looked up at him and nodded her head slightly.

"Yes my prince?"

Riku sighed at the sound of that. Whenever she was talking to him, it always sounded like she was his servant, always using 'prince' or 'my lord' in addressing him.

"You know that there is no reason for you to address me as such."

"Well what shall I say my prince?" she asked, cocking her heard to the side, a stray lock of thick wavy hair falling into her face. Riku looked up to the branches as he swatted a few back, making sure that they didn't fall back and hurt the woman behind him.

"Oh, I don't know. How about Riku?" he proposed, swinging his leg over the saddle, sliding easily off of his horse.

"But I can't call you by your first name like that. With all due respect-"

"And there is no reason for you to be so formal towards me either. I feel more like I'm talking to one of the servants instead of… of," he said, pausing as he tried to think of what her relationship was to him. Sure, she wasn't really a stranger; she had saved him and nursed him back to health. Also, she was the Lady of the Lake but with that, it made him think that he should instead address her with a more proper title than just 'my lady.'

"Instead of a Lady of the Lake?" she asked, feeling her horse slow down as the prince began to rustle through the pack. Pulling out one of the water sacks, he poured a bit into his cupped hand, raising it to the black horse.

"Oh, I don't know. Just forget about it. The horses need some rest so maybe we should find a place to camp for a while until they are ready again," he suggested, giving the other horse water as well. Sora just nodded her head and awkwardly tried to get off of the horse, soon finding herself stuck.

"Um… Riku? I think I need some help here."

Looking back, he smiled and replaced the water bag into the saddle pack before walking over to the side of the horse.

"That is why, my lady, women must ride side saddle," he said as he motioned for her to throw her leg over the side.

"It's a stupid rule. How am I supposed to stay on if I'm so easy to slide off, especially with a dress like this?" she remarked, hearing a loud rip as her dress tore a bit more. The brunette blushed and then finally pulled her leg over.

"If it makes you more comfortable, you can ride with me instead," said the prince, making her blush even more.

"Oh no thank you. I think I'll be fine as I am."

Placing his hands at her waist, he gently lifted her off of the large horse, placing her down on the ground. Sora blushed as she felt the close contact between her and the prince. Embarrassedly, she moved away from him and walked over to the gray mare, petting its long face. The mare however snorted and whinnied loudly, backing away from her.

"Don't try to ride her. My mother's horse is very jumpy and temperamental. It's best if you stay with Oblivion, he's very docile," he said, patting the black stallion, whom Sora guessed to be Oblivion, on the nose, earning a gentle nudge against his shoulder.

It was a few more hours until they decided to proceed on again, this time the both of them walking the horses. There was so much brush that it was mostly impossible to ride the rest of the way. During the time, they talked and discussed many different things from old folk legends to their former homes. Sora smiled as she listened to Riku talk proudly of his castle and the many things that he did there.

"Tell me prince, have you ever fallen in love before?" she asked, a soft smile across her face. Riku blinked a bit and then looked away.

"Why would you like to know something like that? After all, a lady shouldn't ask such a thing."

Sora just huffed and pouted, her bright blue eyes glittering. "Well I'm not a proper lady anyway so it shouldn't matter." Seeing that there was no way out of the conversation, Riku sighed and tilted his head to the side in thought.

"Well, there was once a princess that came from the kingdom of Balaam. She was very well bred and seemed like a porcelain doll with her hair perfectly brushed and her skin white as snow. I remember that she wore the most beautiful blue dress that I'd ever seen. It was only a clear blue silk dress that was gathered at the waist with a black satin sash but she looked more beautiful in that than I had ever seen."

Looking up to the passing tree limbs, he smiled as he remembered her.

"The princess Rinoa and I were childhood friends and she was my fiancé since my birth to unite our two kingdoms. I have to say that at first I wasn't happy, she wasn't that much of a playmate for me at first and her mother never allowed her to play unless they were board games. But as time went by, I soon found that I truly liked her and even warmed up to the idea that in time, she might be my queen one day."

Sora watched with concerned eyes as Riku's expression turned to a darker mood, his eyes firmly concentrated to the path ahead of him.

"She was murdered by Sephiroth on her caravan to the castle for the wedding a year ago."

There was silence soon after that. Sora furrowed her eyebrows as she continued on, her mind deep in thought. Who was Sephiroth? She guessed that it must have been the man that was standing at the tower on the castle in Riku's memories, slicing the head off of his father in cold blood.

Closing her eyes, she clutched at her head as she remembered the intense fury and sadness that was felt when that memory went through her in the lake. There was so much pain whenever the image of that one man came through her head at that time. Even kind memories when the man would surprise him or play hide and seek in the gardens with him, or even simply having deep conversations, whenever his presence came through, it always wracked Riku with sadness.

"Sora?" asked Riku as he paused a little bit of a distance away from her, realizing that she had stopped in her walk. His face was wracked with concern as he watched her, slowly letting go of the reins.

"Is he the one that killed your father?" she asked.

"A lady shouldn't worry about these kinds of things," he said, tugging the reins of the gray dapple mare to continue onward.

It was nightfall before they emerged into a vast green clearing. The prince scanned the horizon, trying to find any landmarks or signs of people around.

"Where are we prince?" asked Sora as she stood close to Oblivion nervously.

"I don't know exactly but we are heading in the right direction." He then pointed over to a large row of mountains in the distance. "Those are the Nibelheim Mountains, the outskirts of my country. If we keep heading in that direction, we should find some kind of settlement."

Sora nodded and clutched at the reins tighter as she heard the haunting sound of an owl. Everything around her made her uneasy. This was a place that she never knew and combining that with the fact that she was on land with no signs of a pond in sight, she knew there weren't many places to hide for her.

A gloved hand rested on her soft shoulder. "My lady, are you cold?" he asked, receiving a small shiver in reply. He gave a comforting chuckle at this and placed a hand on the small of her back, guiding her towards the gray horse.

"What are you doing?" asked Sora in a slightly fatigued manner as she felt him gently lift her and place her on the back of the giant mare, making the horse snort and stomp her feet in protest. He mounted the horse as well and pat its sides, trying to calm it down while saying soft words to it.

"Here Oblivion," he whispered, patting at his side, gesturing for the horse to come closer. It did as it was asked and Riku tied its reins to the back of the other horses' saddle. Tapping his heel at the side of the mare, they slowly set off on their way across the grassy plains.

The ride was slow and quiet as Sora tiredly rested her head into the crook of his neck, leaving Riku to look up to the stars and think. He really didn't know what he was going to do once he found a place to rest but he hoped that luck would be at his side.

"Riku my son, when you are ever lost and can't find your way home or if you have no home to go to, you must remember to trust in fate. Fate will always pull you through even the darkest of situations and take you to the light," said his mother as she brushed her fingers through her son's hair.

Prince Riku was no older than ten years of age at that time, looking up at his beautiful mother with his regal eyes. "But you'll always be here won't you mother? I don't need Fate if I have you," he said with a pout. The queen simply sighed and held her son close, rubbing his back soothingly.

"Oh Riku, you are still a child and I hope that there never is a day that I'll have to leave you but someday Death will come for me. I just hope that when it does, you will have your father's strength to carry on and move forward," she said giving him a kiss on his smooth forehead.

Clutching at the necklace around his neck, he closed his eyes, trying to hold back the tears. His mother had left him, as well as the rest of his family and everything he had come to know. Now he had to respect his mother's wishes to move forward and survive until the day that he was to fight for his family's honor and slay his brother.

"Riku…" sighed the woman in his arm as she nuzzled her face deeper into his neck, her lips grazing his skin. Rubbing a hand over her shoulder, he smiled as he watched her breathe slowly. He had made his first step and saved her from her prison. However, he wondered how far would he take her until it was time for them to say goodbye? Would it be at the end of that hillside or would it be at the end of his journey?

A/N: I know, this chapter sucks and is pretty lame. I tried to get this one out. I have a great chapter planned ahead but I needed to get this one out. I promise you will love the next one. It is filled with laughter, fun, and might we say, a bit of jealousy? Haha. Well, I hope that you will review because that will make the next one come out a lot faster and better too! I'd love to hear from you! Until then.