A/N: okay, here is chapter 3!!! *dance* i think this came out...all right.... i'm not really sure.... just decide for yourself!!!
DISCLAIMER: i do NOT own Cinderella, it belongs to Disney and whoever wrote it... D. Gray-Man belongs to Hoshino-sensei!
~ Chapter 3~
"Remind me to never ride with you again, Your Highness…" Lavi said, his eyes nigh but swirls.
"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad!" the Prince said, gesturing to a servant to bring out another horse. "Besides, you won't have to."
"Won't have to do what?" Lavi asked, his head still spinning.
"Ride with me again," the Prince said, pulling the second horse to Lavi. It was an Equestrian horse with tan fur and black main and black legs. Its tack (1) was regular leather and Lavi saw the Prince put his own horse in the regular leather tack. "And you can just call me Kanda."
"Wha…?" Lavi asked, a bit thrown back.
"I really don't want to hear and more 'your majesty's and 'your highness's. It's annoying and I'm called that enough," Kanda said, looking at Lavi with a face that was half pissed and half fed up. "Please, just call me Kanda."
"Okay, Your---" Lavi said before he cut himself off. "I mean, sure, Kanda!"
"Thanks," Kanda said with a smirk, handing the reins of the Equestrian to Lavi. "You ready?"
"Um… I guess," Lavi said, going up to the side of the horse.
"Her name is Cleopatra," Kanda said, gesturing to the Equestrian. He then turned to his own horse and said, "And this is Antony."
"I see, Cleopatra and Antony," Lavi said with a knowing smile. "These two like each other?"
"Inseparable since we got them," Kanda said, petting his own horse.
"That's so nice…" Lavi said with a smile, petting Cleopatra. He could feel Antony's hot breaths on his neck. "What is he doing?"
"I guess he's jealous," Kanda said with a half laugh. He pulled back on Antony's reins to pull the horse's head back and said, "That's enough, Antony." The horse just snorted. "So, Lavi, you ready?"
"Yeah," Lavi said, not at all sure how he should proceed. "Um… what do I do?"
"First, make sure you have both hands on the saddle, and hold on tight," Kanda said, putting Lavi's hands on both ends on the saddle. "Now, since your on her right side, put your right foot in the stirrup. Make sure your keep your right leg bent. Now, pull up and swing your left leg over."
Lavi tried to pull himself up and his hands slipped. He fell backwards, knocking himself and Kanda to the ground. He blushed like mad and got up, helping the Prince up as well.
"I'm SO sorry, Kanda!" Lavi said, breaking down.
"Hey, it's okay," Kanda said, brushing himself off. "I'm not hurt! No harm, no foul! Just try again."
"Alright…." Lavi said, wiping his hands off on his pants first before he gripped the saddle again. He put his foot in the stirrup and hoisted himself into the saddle, this time without falling over. "Hey! I got it!!"
"Knew you could," Kanda said, getting into his saddle in one fluid motion. "Now, do you know how to control the horse?"
"I have no idea…" Lavi admitted, scratching the back of his head.
"No problem," Kanda said, getting Antony closer to Cleopatra. "Look, you have to hold reins so that… well, let me show you."
Kanda took Lavi's hand and placed it on the reins, making sure that he held it correctly. He was gripping the reins with a fist, but his thumb and pinky finger were facing up to the sky and gripped on the opposite side from the rest of his fingers. It's hard to explain.
Lavi blushed madly as the Prince put his hands in the right positions. This boy, who was supposed to be royalty, was acting like a regular teenager! Was this supposed to happen?
"You got it?" Kanda asked, snapping Lavi out of his stupor.
"Um… yeah, I think so…" Lavi said, adjusting his stirrups before they did anything else.
"Good," Kanda said, a slight smile on his face that disapeared in a second. "Now, when you want to horse to go to the right, you need to pull back and to the right, gently. Same thing for the left. You want to try to pull towards your shoulders and turn yourself to the side you want to go in, if that makes any sense… and when you want to stop, you need to pull—"
"Back, I know," Lavi said, cutting him off. "And say 'whoa'."
"Back and up," Kanda said sternly. "Now, to get her to walk—"
"I just say giddy up!" Lavi said with a smile.
"No, that's only in the movies," Kanda said sternly again. "You just need to give her a slight kick and snap the reins. No words necessary for just walking. It's when you want to put her in a trot or a canter that you need words."
"Trot and canter?" Lavi asked, a little confused.
"I'll explain it later," Kanda said flippantly, urging Antony into a walk. "Go on, give it a try!"
"Come on, girl," Lavi said, giving Cleopatra a slight kick in her side and a slight snap of the reins.
Cleopatra bucked up and started off in a run, bolting out of the small fenced off area. She jumped the low fence and started off into an open field.
"Damn it!" Kanda hissed, turning Antony around. "Let's go, boy!"
Kanda urged Antony into a canter (2) and running after Cleopatra. He jumped the fence with ease and made a beeline for the Equestrian.
He reached them in no time, but it looked like Lavi Was having the time of his life. He had the reins firmly in his hands, he was leaning over they horse, and he had the most devilish smile you will ever see.
"Kanda, this is GREAT!" Lavi screamed to that Kanda could hear him. "Man, I've never had this much fun in my life!!"
"Well then, you look like you have the hang of things!" Kanda said, seeing that Lavi was handling the horse with little effort.
"I never knew I could do this!!" Lavi screamed, letting go of the reins and throwing his arms back, screaming a loud 'woo hoo' into the sky.
"Grab the reins, Baka Usagi!" Kanda screamed, horror filling him when the redhead let go.
"Sorry!!" Lavi said with a laugh, grabbing the reins again.
"Let's see if you can keep up!" Kanda said, pulling back on the reins and having Antony make a sharp left turn.
Lavi did the same, keeping pace with the raven. And he continued to do this no matter how many obstacles Kanda put in front of him. He was determined to make this count, cause this might be his last time.
Finally, they got to where Kanda had wanted to get to, a large lake just outside the kingdom. There were close to fifty different varieties of wild flowers there, along with make weeping willows who's branches hung over into the lake.
"Wow, its so beautiful…" Lavi said in awe as he dismounted.
"It's called Star Lake," Kanda said absently as he took the bridle and reins off of Antony. "You should remove Cleopatra's bridle, it must be uncomfortable for her."
"Yeah…" Lavi said, taking off the bridle as best he could. "Um… hehe… I can't get it…"
"You really are a Baka Usagi, huh?" Kanda asked, helping Lavi remove the bridle. "It's not that hard…"
"Yeah, to someone who's been doing it for years…" Lavi mummbled.
"You say something?" Kanda asked, looking at Lavi with a confused expression on his face.
"Hm? On, no, nothing…" Lavi said, looking out at the lake.
Kanda just che-ed and walked to one of the weeping willows before sitting under it, leaning against the trunk. Lavi followed and sat next to him, though he was a little farther away then either would have liked. Little did Lavi know that they were already outside the kingdom. He sat with his knees pulled up to his chest and his head resting on his knees.
"Hey, Lavi?" Kanda asked in a small voice, so small that Lavi barely heard him.
"Yeah?" Lavi asked, looking to the raven with a curious stare.
"What…… what do you think of me?" Kanda asked shyly, not really looking at Lavi as he stared out at the lake.
"Well… I can't really say…" Lavi said thoughtfully. "I mean… we just met…"
"I mean, before, what did you think when you heard 'the Prince'?" Kanda asked a bit more urgently.
"Um… well…" Lavi said, a bit thrown back by the urgency in the raven's voice. "Whenever I heard people talk about you, the first things that came to mind were a snobby and stuck up prince who only cares about himself and couldn't give a crap about his kingdom as long as he was living in luxury…"
"More fairy tales?" Kanda asked with a slight chuckle.
"Not really…" Lavi said thoughtfully again, looking up at the clouds that passed over head in the midday sun. "My grandpa travels all the time, and he told me stories about royalty and nobility that acted like that…"
"What do you think of me now, though?"
"Well… I think that you're a nice guy who just wants to be a normal teenager…" Lavi said, seriously thinking. "You seem really nice, don't get me wrong… but…"
"But what?"
"You seem familiar… like I know you from somewhere but I can't place it…"
"Really? I guess it's a really common look…"
"Not really," Lavi said, looking at Kanda with a 'are you crazy' face. "Not many people here have dark blue eyes and long black hair. Hell, black hair is really rare to begin with!"
"Really? I didn't know that…" Kanda said with a sigh.
"You seem really detached from your people, Kanda," Lavi said, looking at Kanda with a sympathetic look in his eye. "Don't you ever get out?"
"I just came back, remember?" Kanda asked with a half laugh. "But whenever I leave the castle, my fan club attacks me, people will swoon over me, and I'll just end up running back to the castle in fear of my life…"
"That's tough, dude. But you really need to get out more. Staying in a stone castle all the time can't be good for you!"
"Yeah, I know… that's why I'll come out here sometimes. It's a great place to think…" Kanda said, shifting so that he could lie on his back. "Lenalee and I would come here all the time when we were kids…"
"Lenalee?" Lavi asked, choking on the name.
"My sister," Kanda said, a smirk coming to his face when he saw Lavi's jealous face.
"Oh… the Princess…"
"Yeah.. she has it worse then I do, though. She's not allowed out period. She can't even go out into the gardens…"
"That's really tough. I feel bad for you guys!"
"What about you? You said that you had an evil step family, right?"
"Well… yeah… I'm forced to do all the housework, even though it's more of my home then it is my stepmother's or stepsibling's. they treat me like a slave… and my stepmother, Klaud… she spends all the family's money on stuff for her kids… and any money that's left goes to money for food for them and the animals…"
"So she doesn't take care of you at all?" Lavi just shook his head solemnly. "That's terrible! I've seen real slaves that are treated better then that!"
"Yeah… I know… at least Allen is there to help me through…"
"Allen?" now it was Kanda's turn to choke.
"He's my best friend," Lavi said with a laugh, noticing the jealous tone in Kanda's voice. "His guardian, Cross Marian, treats him about the same…"
"Who are these people?!?"
"Very mean people who are complete and udder sadists!" Lavi hissed, the venom in his voice clearly visible.
"I'm sorry… I'm not sure what to do…" Kanda said, looking down at the ground. He felt so…. Useless.
"You're the heir to the thrown!" Lavi said with so much force, it made Kanda loose his balance. "You can make a change! When you become the king, you'll be able to change whatever you want!"
"But… I may not become king anytime soon…" Kanda said, just as his cell phone started to buzz. "God damn it, Lenalee…"
The text on the phone read: "Where r u? there's going 2 b a masquerade ball 2night 4 u! get back 2 the palace!"
"What did she say? If you don't mind saying…?"
"She just said that there's going to be a ball masquerade tonight for me.. probably for me return… Damn it… My father's going to want me to pick a bride at this ball too…"
"That sucks…" Lavi said, extremely forlorn.
"Do you want to come?"
The question caught Lavi off guard. Him? A commoner? At a ball? Is this for real?!!?
"To the ball?" Lavi asked, just to make sure that he heard right.
"No, to the market," Kanda said sarcastically. "Of course I meant to the ball! Would you like to come?"
"I don't know…" Lavi said hesitantly. "Klaud might not let me go… and besides, if it's a masquerade, then how would we know who the other is?"
"Hm…" Kanda said, thinking it over. His eyes fell on lotus floating in the water. He walked up to the bank and picked two small buds. He passed one to Lavi and said, "Wear this on your jacket. That way we'll know who's who."
"That's not a bad idea…" Lavi said, looking down at his old, worn suite. "But I'm not sure that there's any spot for it on this…"
"That's your only suit?" Kanda asked, a little confused.
"Yeah… Klaud forced me to wear it…" Lavi said, looking at the small bits of dirt on it from his falls. "It might not make a great impression…"
"Hmm… this is a bit of a dilemma…" Kanda not said, sitting back and thinking, not even seeing Lavi get very pissed very fast.
"I knew it!!" Lavi screamed, standing up quickly. "You ONLY care about your looks and your balls then you do anything else!! I knew it!!" Lavi turned on his heels and ran off to get Cleopatra.
"Lavi, wait!" Kanda called, running after the teen.
"Make me, Your Highness!" Lavi said in a mocking tone as he quickly bridled Cleopatra like he had been doing it all his life. He mounted her quickly and in a single fluid motion and urged her into a canter right away, going back to the castle.
Kanda was also got the bridle on Antony, mounted, and sped off after Lavi.
"Just wait a second!" Kanda screamed ahead to the redhead. Lavi didn't seem to hear or just ignored him as he continued on, making the horse go faster.
Kanda fumed and managed to get Antony faster, even if just slightly. He got right in front of Lavi and Cleopatra, making the Equestrian rear back, lest she run over her love. Lavi got thrown off the horse and landed on his back, knocking the wind out of him. Before Antony even came to a full stop, Kanda was already dismounting the stead and ran over to Lavi.
"Are you okay?" Kanda asked, the worry in his voice eminent.
"No thanks to you!" Lavi screamed, tears escaping his eye. "You KNEW that Cleopatra would throw me off when you pulled that stunt!"
"I needed to talk to you!" Kanda said harshly.
"So you almost kill me?!?!" Lavi screamed.
What he had said struck a cord in the raven. He knew that what he did was dangerous… but not lethal.
"Lavi, I'm sorry. Just tell me why you ran!" Kanda said, almost begging.
"I ran because my first impressions of you were right!" Lavi screamed, striking another cord. "You're only concerned about appearances, like every other monarch out there! You don't care at all about the person behind the clothes and make up, do you?!"
"How can you say that?!?!" Kanda screamed, feeling his heart ripping in two. "Of course I care! I told you more then I told even my own sister! I trust you!! How can you say I don't care!!"
"Because you think that me only owning one suit is a dilemma!!" Lavi screamed, mounting Cleopatra before Kanda could do anything and heading back to the castle. He put the horse in the stable and ran back home, crying.
(1) Tack: the words used to reffer to the bridle, reins, saddle, and any other things that are used to ride a horse
(2) Cantor: it's faster then a full run. hard to describe as it's the fastest the one can ill the horse to go.
also, with all the stuff that Kanda is teaching Lavi about mounting and riding a horse, i took horseback riding lessons about a year or two ago, so i know what i'm talking about!
anyway. the ending was kinda rushed.... my mom only gave me three minutes to finish so... ^^; it's not the best, but i didn't want to change it... Kanda was SUPPOSED to kiss Lavi in thi one under the tree, but the actors didn't cooperate with me! WHERE THE HELL ID THE SCRIPT?!!?
Lavi: Should we tell her?
Kanda: Nah... let's let her freak out. It'll pass...
Lavi: Okay then!! :D
Nana: *running around like a headless chicken*