Dome

By: Dexeka (aka InfynitiStar)

Chapter 1: All About a Prince

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Too bad. Maybe someday…but that's just wishful thinking.

Pairings: Taito and Tai x OC. There'll prolly be more, but that's all for now.

Warnings: it's Taito, so yaoi, of course…the setting is AU, so the characters will most likely be majorly OOC. Other than that…as of right now, nothing. Tho there will be lemon eventually. At least I plan on it.

Summary: Taichi has been stuck in his little dome that keeps him safe from the outside world for his whole life. He finally gets enough courage to sneak out and he likes what he finds.

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Taichi sighed as he stared out his bedroom window at the distant ground below. How he longed to be able to go outside the safety of the dome that his father forced him to stay inside. Why couldn't he leave? His father did all the time when he had to go fight battles in other kingdoms. What was so different about Taichi that he wasn't allowed to go out into the real world and enjoy himself? A knock at the door startled him from his thoughts about his desire to go out into the world.

"Come in," he called to whoever was behind the door, knowing that it was either his sister or his servant, Keira.

The door opened slowly and a girl in a maid's outfit waltzed gleefully into his room. When she noticed his glum look, her smile dropped and she moved to stand beside him.

"What's wrong?" she asked without using any kind of formality. Taichi had told her the day she had been brought to the castle that he didn't want to be treated like the prince that he was; he wanted to be treated just like anyone else she knew. Whenever they were around Taichi's father, however, she used the formalities to please the stubborn old king.

"I still don't understand it," Taichi trailed off, knowing that she instantly understood, just from those few simple words.

"I know. I don't understand it, either. The outside world isn't bad. It's actually a quite nice place when there isn't fighting going on." She stepped away from the young prince and flopped onto his bed, leaning back against her arms and propping her feet up on the nightstand beside the bed.

"Why can't he just be sensible and let me leave? It's not like I'd leave forever or anything."

"Maybe he's just worried because of what happened to your sister."

"Maybe." Taichi sighed again, remembering well the day that his little sister had been born. He was ten at the time and never even got to meet her. His mother was outside the dome on a rainy day when she went into labor. Taichi had been so worried that day when his mother didn't return to the castle. It wasn't until the next day he found out about what had happened, and that his mother, as well as his baby sister, had died in childbirth. He had stayed up all night waiting, with Keira as his only company because his father had been out battling another country for territory.

The king was definitely a strange man. While most kings would sit on their thrones all day and have their men fight their battles for them, the king went to the battles himself. He didn't want to get out of shape as he got older, and he didn't want to be marked as just another stereotypical king.

Taichi moved from his place at the window and sat next to the pale redhead that was comfortably relaxing on his bed.

"I'm sure that's it. He'll come to his senses eventually." Keira draped an arm over the prince's shoulders in an attempt to cheer him up. "Besides, tomorrow's your sixteenth birthday, and, once you're officially sixteen, he can't rule your life so much." She pulled the brunette close to her in a tight, friendly hug and ended up losing her balance and fell back onto the bed, pulling Taichi with her.

"I guess you're right," Taichi said with a laugh, sitting up.

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"So how was your day?" Taichi asked as his father walked through the large gates at the entrance to the castle. The king walked past him, his dark blue cloak flowing behind him, and Taichi followed closely.

"It was good," the dark-haired man replied, flashing a quick smile to his one and only son. As they entered the central room of the castle, two servants showed up: one to take the king's cloak and the other to take down the necessary orders. "Umm," the king mumbled, scratching his chin. "Have the cook prepare a simple meal tonight. Nothing fancy; it just has to taste good." He continued scratching his chin as he thought. "And have a bath drawn and ready for me after dinner." The king looked up at the servant and smiled. "That is all." The servant nodded and walked away.

"So, dad…I want to talk to you," Taichi began, walking down the large hall to the library alongside his father.

"Oh? What about?" the king asked, sounding surprised.

"Well I'm gonna be sixteen tomorrow, so I was wondering if you'd finally let me leave the dome…" At Taichi's words, his father stopped dead in his tracks.

"Absolutely not."

"But why?"

"Because you can't, and that's final." The king began walking down the enormous hallway once more, and the young prince sprinted after him.

Anger started to build inside Taichi, and it slowly spilled out in his words. "I'm old enough to make my own decisions, and I should be able to go out when I want instead of being cooped up in this…this damned bubble all the time!"

"Never speak to me in such a way again, do you hear me?" Though his words were calm, it was easy to tell that the king was angered by his son's temper, simply by the way his face was slowly reddening from holding back.

"No, I don't! I'll talk however the hell I want, and you can't stop me!" Taichi's hands balled into fists that were held by taught arms at his sides. "Have my dinner sent to my room," Taichi growled, turning away from his father and heading back the way they'd come, towards his bedroom.

"Get back here!" the king bellowed down the hall after the brunette.

"No!" Taichi yelled in response and began running down the hall towards his room, eager to get away from his stubborn father.

When Taichi reached his room, he slammed the door behind him and threw himself onto his large bed. He lay on his stomach with his arms crossed in front of him, his chin resting heavily on top of them. Mumbles and growls escaped his lips as his rage finally seeped out.

There was a soft knock, and the door opened. Keira walked in, shutting the door behind her, and sat on the bed next to Taichi. "I heard," she whispered, adjusting her position so she was lying on the bed beside him.

"I hate him!" Taichi growled, turning to face her. He leaned on one arm with his face in his hand, and Keira did the same. "I mean, I just…" Taichi growled in frustration, sitting up, and, once again, Keira did the same.

"I know. Want me to go get your dinner? Then you can cool down while you eat."

"Would you?" Taichi looked up at her, anger still evident on his face.

"Yeah, of course." She smiled then stood and walked towards the door. She grabbed the knob, but turned back to the brunette at the last second before opening the door. "What are you going to do?"

Taichi grinned wickedly, tapping his fingers against each other as if he were thinking. "I'm going to rebel."

Keira smiled back and him then left the room. She returned a few minutes later carrying a large tray with enough food to feed the prince and herself. She set it on the bed in front of the brunette then sat down across from him, on the other side of the large tray.

"Will you lock my door, Kei?"

Keira did as she was asked then returned to her place on the bed across from the prince. "So," she began, picking up a warm biscuit, " how exactly do you plan to rebel?"

"Well," Taichi replied, grabbing one of the chicken legs off the tray, " I want to sneak out and see the world. And a few other things…"

"Oh?" the redhead asked, taking a bite from her biscuit then talking with her mouth full. "Like what?"

Taichi grin and began listing off the things he planned to do to anger his father.

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Taichi wiped at his mouth with the cloth napkin had been sitting at the edge of the tray and threw it back on top of the mess of empty plates and bowls. Keira had finished what she'd wanted to eat much earlier, and Taichi had gladly finished off the rest of her share, as he'd already finished his own.

"That's a pretty hefty list, Tai." The redhead climbed off the bed then took the empty tray over to the small table near the door. She set it down then sprinted back to the bed and jumped onto it next to Taichi, smiling. "How do you propose to start?"

"I'm not quite sure…yet." Taichi lay back on the bed, nestling his head comfortably into his pillow.

"Want me to leave so you can get to sleep?"

"No, that's okay. You can stay in here tonight."

"That works for me." Keira smiled, remembering back to when she was first brought into the castle as a servant. She'd been nervous and couldn't find her way around the castle, but then Taichi had introduced himself and told her to not use formalities when talking to him. Then he'd kindly showed her the way around the castle and helped her for many days after that until she'd gotten used to the place.

But the first night was extra special. She was a scared little girl at six years old and was too afraid to sleep in the strange room she'd been given alone. Considering Taichi was eight, he wanted to make her as comfortable as possible, and he didn't like to see her as scared as she was. He had invited her to stay in his room that night, and when she'd insisted on sleeping on the floor, he'd dragged her onto his bed and held her there until she stopped struggling. When she'd finally given up her fight to get away, she slowly drifted to sleep in his tiny arms and woke up to him sound asleep sprawled across her back.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Taichi asked, interrupting her reverie. In the time that she'd been lost in memories, he'd sat up and moved in front of her, which startled her when she suddenly noticed how close he was. He laughed when she jumped in surprise.

Keira rolled her eyes then relaxed and smiled at him. "I was just remembering the first night I was here…when you wouldn't let me sleep on the floor of your room." She thought for a moment then continued. "Actually, you've never let me sleep on the floor. You've always made me share your bed."

"Well of course," Taichi said, shrugging. "I'm not gonna make you sleep on the floor. That'd be uncomfortable! I've got plenty of room in this big bed, so I don't see why I shouldn't share it."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"And I really want to rebel…"

It took a minute before Keira realized exactly what he'd meant, but when she did, she looked up at him with wide eyes. "Do you mean…?"

Taichi nodded then leaned in to kiss her gently. "This is what I meant." He leaned in and kissed her again, climbing onto his knees and reaching one hand behind her neck.

Suddenly she pulled back. "Wait," she said, moving away from him and climbing off the bed, making Taichi think he'd done something wrong. She carefully put out all of the lights and climbed back onto the bed in front of the prince. "Okay."

He smiled at her and leaned in to kiss her again, putting his hand behind her neck again. His hand slowly began to wander and was soon undoing the maid's outfit she was wearing.

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Mwahahahahahaha! Cliffhanger! Sorry, but I had to do something to make you want to keep reading. Cuz you'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out what happens! But don't worry, this is a Taito fic, so this little thing isn't permanent. Anyways…the more reviews I get, the sooner I'll write the next chapter! And I have a lot of ideas for this story, so…let me know what you think!