~A/N – Alright, this chapter is longer than the others (which I am very happy about *cheers*) I tried to make it a little longer in between Harold and Lillian meeting, so that is what I did, but there wasn't a lot I could put - so I hope you enjoy this anyway! Yeah, so this is where they meet... I'm repeating myself! So how did they meet... let's find out =) (same day as last chapter)

Chapter 3: Meeting in the woods

Thunder roars and the lightning strikes off in the distance from the peaceful kingdom. Not a soul was outdoors for fear of being wet and hurt from the lightning. It was known in this particular kingdom, that the lightning would strike more than once. The only ones that were ever outside during a storm like this was deer, and other animals that were forced to stay outside, or in caves. But there was one person that was out during this dangerous storm.

"Oh great..." Lillian sighed as she made her way through the silent woods. Her white steed was getting a little freaked out by the rain and the lightning, which just started a few minutes ago. She thought it looked like a perfect day to go riding, to clear her head... but the freezing rain had started out of no where! "This is not what I need!"

The Princess tried to stay calm and tried to make her way back to her castle, but she couldn't see where she was going. The dark grey fog was blocking her view, "Stay calm Xander, we'll find our way home." The horse whinnied loudly, as if he understood what she was saying. Lillian just wished she would take her own advice!

She took a deep breath and, again, tried to stay calm. Lillian has never rode her horse in this kind of weather before. She always rode on clear days, which was smart. All she wanted to do was get away from the kingdom, meaning her father, for a few hours. She hoped that she wouldn't end up regretting it.
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Harold got out of his little home, shaking off the water from his back... but when he got outside the rain had made him wet again. "Perfect... the weather matches my mood." The lightning struck close to where Harold was. His eyes widened as he saw a tree fall down maybe ten feet in front of him. "Oh... well that was close." He was still in shock, but he decided to go and look at the tree. Taking a few high hops towards the tree, he jumped on top of it's trunk and saw nothing suspicious about why it would have fallen... besides the fact that is was just struck by lightning.

It was a nasty day outside, rain kept on pouring down and the fog was getting thicker than a cloud. Was the raining getting heavier? Harold looked up to the sky to see nothing but rain and fog, you could not see twelve feet in front of you. He knew for one thing, no one would be outside during the storm. If they were they were asking for a death sentence.

Suddenly, he heard something coming towards him and the old tree trunk. The sound of hooves pounding on the pavement kept getting louder and louder...
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Now Lillian wished that she had never left the castle for a short ride! Xander was riding greatly, but the problem was he couldn't see where he was going. He started to go faster, against Lillian's wishes, he was starting to get scared. Actually, he was petrified. Lillian was practially grabbing his mane for dear life, and just to stay on the saddle.

"Whoa, Xander, calm down... come on, you need to stay calm." The horse didn't seem to listen to her as they rode in the middle of the dark, scary woods. There was an clearing just in front of them, there was also a path. Lillian sighed, a little relived. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, she, too, had to stay calm - after all, animals can sense what their masters feel. It was only natural that Xander was freaking out.

She opened her eyes again, it wasn't working, and she was getting worried. Suddenly she gasped. In front of her was a tree that had fallen in her path! She tried to stop Xander but the only thing she could think to do was scream!
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"Oh no!" Harold didn't know what to do, he had to warn the rider, but she should have seen the tree by now. But what if she didn't? "Stop!" Was all he could think to shout. He felt a panic go through his heart, what if the rider didn't stop?! He shouted again, this time as loud as he could.

The rider was yelling at her horse, "Xander!" She sounded worried and panicked as well. Lightning cracked as bright as could be. Thunder roared loudly. The horse saw the tree just in time, but was going to fast to stop! He reared up on his strong back legs and made a terrible, as if he was freaked out, neighing sound and kicked his front legs out in front of him. Harold gasped and jumped out of the way of the scared horse.

Lillian fell off Xander and hit the hard ground with a thud. The horse took off as fast as it could, not caring which way he was going, leaving his beloved master behind. Harold had to take a few deep breaths after his near death experience. He kept looking at the horse running up the path, still in shock.

She sat up, in pain. The startled Princess tried to call her horse back, "Xander! Come back!" Lillian tried to stand up, but was in too much pain, her ankle was making it almost impossible to move. It was the same amount of impossible to see where she was and where Xander went. Rain was pouring down harder, and it was becoming colder. She shivered.

Harold looked at the woman that was sitting a few feet from him. He didn't recognize her, but with a beautiful face like the one she had, he thought he should have known who she was. Her eyes, though sad, reminded him of the ocean in early morning. She was soaking wet, but she was still beautiful.

"That's just great," Lillian said, snapping Harold out of his thoughts. "Now what am I going to do?" Looking behind him, Harold saw the small brown shed. He thought that would be a perfect place for her to keep dry, until someone comes to look for her.

She sighed, "It's so cold out here..."

"Excuse me, ummm..." Lillian almost jumped out of her skin. She swore she just heard someone talking to her, through the dark fog.

"H-hello?" No one came through it, but she still felt uneasy. She had no idea where she was, or if she was in a safe part of the kingdom... or who was talking to her.

"Oh! I didn't mean to startle you," Harold cleared his throat. "I was... I noticed that you need some help." The soft voice made Lillian feel a little better, but she still couldn't see who, or what, was talking to her. She sat still, still uneasy.

"Where... where are you?"

Harold blushed a darker green, he hadn't realized he could have scared the poor girl. She probably thought he was a prowler or someone that meant her harm, not an innocent little frog, "Oh... umm down here."

The shaken Princess looked to her left and saw, to her surprise, a little, green frog sitting a foot away from her. She smiled to him though, she was relieved to find out it wasn't someone that wouldn't harm her, "Oh, hello..." she decided not to say 'little guy', after all... if you were a frog would you want someone to call you little?

"You look as though you could use some help." Lightning struck close by, but it didn't hurt anyone around them. The thunder was getting louder.

She sighed unhappily, "Well... my horse did just run away to... God knows where, and I have no idea where I am... so yes, I could use a little help." She gave him small a smile.

He smiled back, "Allow me to come to your assistance," She was about to protest, but he seemed like he really wanted to help. "I know I may be just a frog, but doesn't every frog have his day?" Lillian smiled again; he seemed really cheerful for someone who has to hop all day long.

"I suppose they do." The freezing rain kept on pouring endlessly.

"Excellent," Harold hopped over to the shed and smiled. "To keep dry, you can stay in here."

The Princess said, "Yes, that would be the perfect place to stay," She then frowned. "But my ankle... how ever will I get over there?" He hadn't thought of that, Harold frowned as well. The rain was getting colder as the two tried to think of a way to get Lillian into the shed. The lightning was getting more fierce and the thunder seemed to be even louder, like a freight train. She thought she would just have to stay outside and be wet, when she heard a rustling type sound coming from the shed. Lillian then watched, in amazement, as the frog hopped into the shed and began to pull something out. He was definitely no ordinary frog.

He hauled the light, but sturdy, shovel over to her and sighed tiredly, "There you are, try to stand with that." She looked at it. It looked a little old, but it did look sturdy. The handle was made out of gray plastic, hopefully it wouldn't break. Lightning cracked again and Lillian didn't waste another thought, she picked up slimy handle, and put it under her arm. She put all her weight on it and slowly, but surely, got up... but she fell again, sitting up one more time. The dirt around her was becoming full of water, causing her to become muddy. It felt wet and slimy.

"Ahh!" Harold hopped as fast as he could over to her. "I can't do this..." When she looked at Harold, he knew he had to help her, but he couldn't physically help her in any way. He was a human trapped in a frog's body, and it was times like these he really hated that witch.

"Yes you can," The thunder and lightning seemed to be getting closer. "It's not safe for you to stay out here." Lillian knew he was right. But... could she do it. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Again, she stuck the handle under her arm and lifted herself half way up. Harold went over to her, this time helping her up... well, as much as he could. She leaned on the gross shovel one more time, and stood up, balancing on it and her good foot. They made their way to the shed, Harold went ahead to open the door.

Once inside the cramped and smelly shed, Lillian sat down on the shelf it had, and Harold closed the door behind him, sitting on the floor. It looked as though it hadn't been used in years. There were tools that looked ten years old, at least. Mold was obviously somewhere inside of it. There was a gun that appeared broken in the corner near the small window it had. And, if it weren't bad enough, there was barely any light coming in at all. But Lillian and Harold didn't mind, they were just glad to be out of the rain!

They awkwardly sat there, neither of them knowing what to say. What could a human and frog really talk about anyway? They both had no idea...

After a few moments, Lillian said, "Well," Harold looked up at her, not expecting her to talk. Lillian smiled. "I suppose I owe you a thank you... Mr. Frog--."

"Please," He put up a slimy foot and smiled. "Call me Harold." She nodded.

"Alright," She picked him up and set him on the small shelf next to her. "Thank you Harold." Lillian stuck out her hand, to shake hands with him. Harold took one of her fingers and shook it. "I am very thankful."

"You're quite welcome." They smiled at each other. Lillian finally noticed his eyes, they were different than most frogs. His were light brown, and slightly shaped different. They were nice to look at, she thought they looked very pretty.

"How is your ankle doing?" They let go of each other's hand (or finger). She cleared her throat.

"It still hurts a little, but it should be fine... once I put ice on it." Harold seemed like a very nice and kind frog to her. Suddenly Lillian giggled... Harold instantly became confused, "I hope you don't take this offensively... but I've never talked to a frog before." She giggled a little more, trying to stop in case he did find it offensive.

Harold smiled, "I must say, not many people can say they have," He was enjoying her company. She was definitely no ordinary girl. She may have been soaking wet and dirty but he still - something sparkled on top of her head. Harold looked to see a crown. How did he not notice that before? She was a Princess. The Princess of the kingdom near the lake. "And I can truly say I have never spoken to a Princess before." That's why she looked familiar. Everyone knew who Princess Lillian was.

"Oh..." Lillian then remembered the crown on her head. She took it off and looked at it, it didn't have a scratch on it. "I'm surprised it stayed on." Putting it back on her head, she sighed, "I guess it will be just fine."

He noted how sad she sounded and debated whether to ask why she was sad or not. They did just meet after all. He shouldn't ask such a... "Why are you so sad, Princess?" Lillian took a deep breath, wishing she hadn't. The smell of rot went up her nose, but she shook it off.

She looked him in his kind eyes, he seemed concerned, "It's hard to be a Princess... sometimes I wish I wasn't one," She smiled. "And you can call me Lillian."

"Well Lillian... believe it or not, I know what it is like to be royalty," The Princess didn't know whether to believe it... or not, but she did want to listen to what he had to say. "And I know... that it can be hard, but it's also very rewarding most of the time. Yes, you have to sign all kinds of documents that everyone just skims over and have a royal food tester to make sure the food isn't poisoned... but you can everything else ordinary people can't do. But you also have to follow rules of the King and Queen... but as does everyone else."

Lillian thought about what he said for a few minutes. Was being ordinary so difficult... was being royalty really that hard? For a frog, he gave good advice!

"And," Harold added. "When you get married you can move far away from here, and start your own kingdom. You can make your own rules. No one tells you what to do, except the royal adviser... but he just advises." She smiled and looked at him. He had made her feel better about being a Princess, but she still had some questioned about her roll in the kingdom... she was glad he was there to talk to. Finally, she had someone to talk to.

"Well Harold... you sure do know a lot about royalty."

He shrugged, "Yes, I suppose I do... it's because...," Harold stopped himself. He was about to tell her his story, but he decided against it. She would just think he was some odd frog and not want to talk to him again. "Umm... never mind, that's not important."

She smiled, "No, tell me."

"No, really it's not important."

"Come on Harold." He was blushing violently. She wouldn't give up without a fight. She had just told him something no one knows about her... she wished he would do the same.

"Lillian..."

"Harold..."

Harold sighed, "Alright, I'll tell you... but I guarantee... you won't believe me."

She smiled again, "You never know." Harold took a deep breath. Even if she believed him or not, he had to tell her.

"... I... well... you see... I'm... a Prince." He held his breath. He told only one other frog this, and ever since that day... he has had no friends. He wished that Lillian would believe him. He really needed someone to believe him...

She didn't know what to say. She knew he was somehow royalty, just because of how proper he was... but a Prince? "Oh," Lillian nodded. "A Frog Prince?"

"No, no," He shook his head and closed his eyes. "I am the human Prince of... Far, Far Away. When I was younger a witch casted a spell on me and... turned me into a frog." Harold wouldn't look at her. What if she didn't believe him? Would she kick him out of the shed? All that was going through his head was 'She doesn't believe me, she doesn't believe me...' while Lillian was having her own thoughts about it.

'Prince Harold of Far, Far Away... why does that sound so familiar? Did I... meet him once? No... was it some news in the past? I don't think so... then why does Prince Harold sound so familiar?' Lillian looked down at Harold, he still had his eyes closed and was still holding his breath. The way he was acting made her think he was telling her the truth... just how unlikely it would be to happen.

"Harold," He opened one eye and looked at her. She was smiling at him. "I believe you." Harold felt relieved and smiled back, having the prettiest eyes he has ever seen looking at his.

~A/N - I figured I would leave it at that... ohhh a little suspense?? Sorry it took longer to write than I said... but I hope it really was worth the wait. I don't know how to feel about this chapter... but please let me know what you truly think! Soo... next chapter is a surprise... hmmm what will happen know that Lillian knows Harold is a Prince? Do you think it was love at first sight? I guess you'll have to find out for yourself... =) Next - Chapter 4: Friendship~ (may take a while)