ONE.

The kingdom of Twilight was in an uproar of happy spirits. It was almost the season of coronation. The day of the princess's twenty-first birthday, it was announced that their dear princess would soon be taking her rightful place as the kingdom's successor. Their dear princess was soon to be queen. Tradition bestows the throne to the rightful successor when it is the heir's twenty-second birthday.

Despite the kingdom being in such high spirits, there was one person that was quite the opposite. And now the question is, who was this negative spirit upon the joyous spirits within the kingdom of Twilight?

"Your Highness!" a cry is heard through the palace garden.

"Has anyone seen Her Highness? She's gone into hiding again!" someone else cries out.

"She is to be queen in six months. She has known this day would come and yet she has caused nothing but trouble for us since her training began!" someone else exclaims, hints of irk and frustration laced in her tone. I recognized her to be the lead maid, who was in charge of all the maids in the palace.

I watch the maids run back and forth. A giggle escape as the maid begin to point accusingly at one another. They were placing blame on each other for losing the princess. I watch with knowing eyes as their attempt would be futile. This was due to the fact that I was watching them from a tree branch.

"My, my, Your Highness," my ears perk at the voice.

I look down to see blond hair emerging from the branches and leaves. A cheeky smile graces his features. His brown hazel eyes questioning my reasoning for hiding.

Upon recognizing who it was, I acknowledge his presence, "Hayner…".

He reaches and grasps the branch that I occupied, causing it to shake. I steady myself so that I wouldn't lose balance and fall.

"So, Princess, what are we running away from today?" he questions, taking a seat next to me on the tree branch.

I turn my head, my eyes taking in his appearance. His blond hair was slightly slicked back. Parts of it was disheveled from probably having to climb the tree. His light skin was a bit scratched up from probably the branches poking and scraping against him when he had climbed up. He was wearing a light green collared polo with a pair of khakis, which was disheveled and now tinted with spots of brown (probably dirt from the tree). Bits and pieces of leaves stuck to him, but he made no attempt of brushing it off.

"Today's lesson is giving proper speeches," I answered.

"Well that's a bore," he mumbles. I nodded in agreement.

Hayner, the Duke of Dusk, was my cousin on my mother's side. My mother and his father were siblings. His situation was quite the scandal actually. He was the bastard child of my uncle and his mistress. My mother was humiliated due to the scandal. It had brought humiliation and shame upon the royal family. Despite the fact that he was born out of wedlock and adultery, he was still raised as a though he were a full-blooded royal.

We both turned our attention back to the maids below. They all had worried looks (probably from thinking they'd be fired). The lead maid looking more angry than worried.

"That girl. Once her mother hears of this, she'll be sorry," she grumbles then swiftly turns and storms off. Probably to inform my mother of the treacherous things I've done today.

The maids disassemble and begin their search for their missing princess.

"You're not worried?" Hayner asks.

I scoffed, "Of what? My mother's nagging?"

His lips thin as he ponders on about something.

I've known Hayner for way too long to know the kind of face he makes when pondering. But Hayner was such an odd ball, it was also difficult to decipher what he was thinking.

As if he was holding in his breath, he releases an audible sigh. His brown, hazels eyeing me as he formulates in his mind what to say to me.

"Naminé," he begins, "How much longer do you plan to keep running away from this?"

I can feel my face scrunch. My brows furrow at hearing his question. Hayner of all people should know that from the age of ten when it was announced that I was to be queen and ruler of the Twilight kingdom, I have fought this truth.

The only difference between now and then was that I was officially running out of time, and soon I would be forced to accept what was to come.

Yet I can only look at Hayner with indifference, no answer to his question for he already knew; I was still refusing to accept my fate.

A/N: Holy Moly. I read the last chapter and it said after Memorial weekend. And it kind of is, 2 weeks after Memorial weekend. But I said that in 2015. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME. I lost my knack for this. This was my way of testing the waters to see if I still have a knack for it! I do apologize for the short chapter.

Lots have happened since you have last heard from me. Like... University and a baby! Please don't think that I'm an old creep that still likes anime, manga, and fanfics. To be honest, I'm young mom but am indeed an adult. I'm certainly not old though! I'm juggling a lot! Work, university, baby, and my own life! Being on summer break, I have no school. And my boredom has me wishing I was back in school, nearly dying and crying about essays, exams, & projects (I'm lying, but kind of not).

If anyone had read this before I deleted anything, the characters were still in school (probably eighteen years old, if I'm remembering correctly). I guess being older myself now, I wanted to change the age to be a little older to fit my way of thinking. And I think it's a bit more mature than being eighteen. I can remember my eighteen-year-old self not even knowing what I wanted to go to college for. Or if I even wanted to go! Hence why I changed the age.

I know it's vague but there's a part for this story that I can't get out of my head and I hope that I will continue writing to be able to write that part. But we'll see, until then I do apologize for the vague and short chapter! I'm aiming to hopefully upload another after June 18. My birthday is June 18 so my plans might interfere! So peace!