Genderswitched Fado and Vigarde.

Unnh, I love 'em. So hard. And there is a long and derpy story behind this pairing. But it would take too long to explain everything; the only important thing is that I ship Fadia/Vigarde like woah and I will pester you with it. Deal with it :p

I've planned to write epic stuff about them, but I can't write epic stuff so you get many, many oneshots. I've also planned to post them in a semi-chronological order, but I don't write them in a chronological order -.- So, I've decided to post the stories that can stand on their own independently from the ones that build on each other and refer to earlier events. Therefore, this story happens during their courtship, when Fadia is on a visit in Grado.

Fadia = Fem!Fado

He found her sitting in the garden, on the stone bench looking over the city. Her head was bowed and she looked at her lap, her hair falling over her shoulder.

Vigarde smiled to himself and tiptoed over to her, avoiding to walk over the gravel walk. Fadia didn't notice him; her posture showed that she was relaxed but still concentrated on whatever was in her lap. He was now standing almost next to her and could already see that cute tiny frown that always appeared when she was concentrating on something on her brow.

He leaned forward, supporting his hands on the backrest of the bank, and glanced down at her lap; there was a thick, red book. Simultaneously, he said quite loudly: "Hello, Fadia."

She startled violently - Vigarde thought he had even heard a little squeak, but she denied it fervently later on -, clutched the book tightly, crumbling the pages, and whirled her head around. The frightened expression fell from her face as soon as she saw Vigarde´s amused smile. Her cheeks darkened with anger and embarrassment and she slammed the book shut.

"Vigarde," she hissed and glared at him. Vigarde was not impressed.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, putting on an innocent act, and let his gaze sweep over the beautiful vista. The city was bustling and the people were as tiny as ants. The castle was so tall that you could even see a tiny bit of the ocean at the horizon. Then his gaze returned to the most beautiful object around - in Vigarde´s opinion at least.

Fadia was sitting very straight, her head was raised high and her hands folded over the book. Vigarde was not sure if she did that because she was really so angry that she acted very formal or because she didn't want to let him read the title and tried to hide it by acting like that. He loved that irritated expression on her face; while she was just as beautiful when she smiled, this certain fiery look gave her an aura of noblesse, of pride and strength. It attracted him.

"Vigarde, what do you want?"

He chuckled inwardly. He shifted so that he was leaning on his elbows; their heads were on the same level now. He folded his hands and shifted his gaze from her lovely face to the light grey seat of the stone bench. "I noticed you sitting here and I wanted to know what my beloved princess is doing."

"I'm reading. Is that all?" she answered curtly. He glanced at her sideways. She was aloof because she wanted to get rid of him. And it had to do with that book. He noticed that the sleeves of her blue dress were hiding the title on the spine of the book. That only made him more curious.

"Yes." He looked up again and just stared off at the horizon. Inwardly grinning, he heard her light shifting.

"If you now know what you wanted to know, why don't you leave?" She sounded impatient.

"It's such a nice day. I have no intention of going back into the castle."

She didn't say anything for a little while. Vigarde chanced to look at her from the corner of his eye; she was glaring at him. He threw her a hopefully charming smile. She only tsked and turned her head away. Now he only had to wait until she gave in.

Normally he would be the first to give in; Fadia was remarkably stubborn most of the time. But Vigarde had the advantage over her; she was obviously dying to continue reading and while she could be very patient most of the time, situations like this were exceptions. Vigarde was certain that she would crack the book open again in ten minutes. He could wait that long.

At first Fadia was silent. Vigarde avoided to look at her, because that would quicken the process. Instead he looked at the lush trees, the budding flowers, the climbing plants on the castle wall and the horizon.

Then he heard her fingers drumming against the hard cover of the book. He had to suppress a triumphant smile. The first step.

Maybe a few minutes later - he was inspecting a very big ivy tendril - he heard her shifting. She was probably pondering if it was save to open the book again. The second step; he was almost there.

When his gaze was on the tiny hole in the castle wall, next to a bright yellow blossom of a climber, he heard the cracking of the book spine. She was opening it. Now he allowed the triumphant smile to enter his face for a moment. It didn't happen often that he could outdo Fadia in regards to patience.

Vigarde decided to wait for another minute or two; she had to be engrossed in her reading again or she would notice his movements. He stared at the sky while pushing back his smile. He had to look inconspicuous. Ever so slowly he moved his head towards her; not fully, but so that he could look at the pages comfortably while not being obvious.

But first he glanced at her face, of course; a tiny, tiny smile played on her lips. Other people would easily overlook it, but Vigarde knew her expressions too well to not notice it. She seemed to really like this book. Another reason why Vigarde wanted to know what it was; he could use this knowledge later to give her a special treat.

His gaze slowly wandered over her hands - very beautiful, but rough hands - to the yellowish pages. He skimmed the first few lines. Then he frowned. He read further. Vigarde couldn't believe what he was reading.

"'- he grabbed her hand, pressing her delicate white fingers to his lips and whispered against her burning skin: 'My lady, my love will always belong to you, even though we will never be.'," he read aloud as if he could only believe it if he voiced it.

Fadia startled violently, slammed to book close and sprung to her feet. Vigarde looked up at her slightly confused - but still amused - and noticed that her embarrassment crept over her neck into her cheeks. "You read cheesy romance novels?"

"No." Her voice was hard and soft with embarrassment at the same time. Her posture was very rigid and her fingers, clutched around the book, were white. "It- it's just a quote. You just read it out of context." She glared over her shoulder at him, probably trying to shut him up. Vigarde could see that she was not really angry at him but at herself. She had realized that he had waited for her to grow weak and she was angry that she had lost to him. He would have to make that up to her later; she could be in a huff for quite a long time.

But then, he couldn't resist to tease her a bit more. "What kind of book quotes a romance novel?" He saw the gears turning in her head. Fadia was trying to find a good explanation. He waited for maybe a minute; she was still silent and her expression had grown darker. She was almost pouting now.

"You," she hissed, obviously trying to find the right words to wipe that smile off his face. When she found none, she just turned around and walked stiffly back to the castle. Vigarde´s gaze followed her - he would never miss the opportunity to see her backside. Today was a successful day, he decided; he had learned something new about her. Unfortunately, he had to calm her before he could come near her again.

A few hours later, a shy maid knocked against the door to the princess´ room. She was carrying a little parcel - a rectangular object wrapped in brown paper. Obediently, the maid waited until she heard the princess calling her in.

Fadia was sitting in an armchair, glaring out of one the floor-length windows. She had crossed her legs and arms and the foot dangling in the air made hasty, tapping motions. The maid lowered her gaze and walked over silently.

"Milady?"

"Yes?" Fadia´s voice was calmer than the maid had expected it to be.

"Prince Vigarde sends you this gift." She held the parcel out to the princess. Fadia´s head whirled around; the maid was startled by her sudden anger.

"Bring it back. I don't want it."

"Prince Vigarde predicted that you would say that," the maid said in a meek voice. Fadia´s frown deepened. "I... I am not allowed to bring it back." She stepped back and put the parcel on the coffee table a few feet away from Fadia´s chair. "I will leave it here." She curtsied and walked out of the room quickly.

Fadia looked after her with an apologetic expression. Her anger was not aimed at the poor girl, but it seemed that she had scared her unintentionally.

Her gaze returned to the parcel. The frown deepened again. Jerkily she jumped to her feet and strode over to the table. She picked the gift up; it was rather heavy. Fadia turned it around to inspect it closer. There were no outer clues about the content. Her eyes flickered to the tall windows. It was tempting to throw it out just to show Vigarde what she thought of his attempt to pacify her.

With a tiny sigh, she lowered her gaze on the parcel again. She knew she was overreacting. But still... The glare came back. It didn't mean that she would accept the gift. She threw it on the table again and walked away from it, to the low window on the other side of the room.

She paced restlessly in front of it. Every now and then she threw a glance at the innocent parcel. She was curious. She wondered with what Vigarde tried to calm her anger, but her stubbornness told her not to give in.

Fadia stopped her pacing and her gaze fell to her feet. She was not really angry at him; no, they teased each other often and while she had the last word more often, she had nothing against it when he won. It was only fair and she was not a poor loser in general. She was just angry that he had won so easily; she had been too weak and it irked her.

After a long fight, curiosity won and she walked back to the table a bit reluctantly. With an annoyed and yet soft sigh, she gently ripped off the brown paper.

It was a book. Fadia frowned in surprise; she suspected that this is just another way to tease her. When she cracked the book open, a little white card fell on the table. She shut the book again, putting it on the table, and picked up the card.

'Dear Fadia, after having a surprising epiphany earlier this day-'

"You little..." She growled lowly.

'I remembered a book that my mother used to read to me when I was little. She told me that this was the only book I've want to read and even though she tried her best to give me an understanding of other romance novels, I seemed to have refuse it. I still don't like books of this genre, but this one here was always an exception. I want to give it to you and I hope that you'll love it as much as I loved it.

With love, Vigarde.'

Fadia slowly lowered the card and looked at the book again. The binding was worn and the golden letters on the front were almost gone. She picked the book up and opened it. The pages were yellow, the ink had faded over the time and there were little tears and dog-ears everywhere. Fadia let her fingers glide over one page; the formerly smooth paper had become rough through the long lasting use.

She flipped through the book; every page told her the same. This had been an important companion of Vigarde. She could see the love he held for this book at the paper.

A gentle smile and a reprimanding frown wanted to enter her face at the same time. How could he give her something so valuable? Why did he have to be so thoughtful and sweet?

Fadia sighed good-natured and went back to the armchair. She huddled against the soft backrest, tucking her legs up, and began to read.