Fruits Basket Fan Fiction ❯ Princess in Waiting ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1

“How about this one Princess?” asked the servant as she held up yet another extravagant and finely-made dress.

In the mirror, the reflection of an equally extravagant dress snugly fitting the tiresome, and, slightly worried, princess was given another hesitant glance.

“Thank you,” she nodded, “but I'm really trying to not overdress. It's just a formal banquet with an important guest. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so much of a burden by worrying you. This dress will do fine.” Concluded the princess as she spun around and rested her sea-blue eyes onto her servant . . . who was still frantically looking through an assortment of dresses, trying to find the “perfect one.”

“Forgive my rudeness princess,” she began, “but I was told that this banquet will be slightly different from others . . . and my orders were to make you look `above casual standards', finished the servant as she fished out another dress for the princess to think over.

The princess turned away from the mirror and confusingly glanced at her servant.

“Whose orders were those?” she asked with a clueless look.

“His majesty, the king.” Replied the servant as she turned to face the princess.

“Why?” asked the princess, still clueless and confused. The servant just shrugged. Although the princess was one of the most kind-hearted and generous person she knew, she had to admit that at times…she was a little on the dense side.

“I'm not sure, but let's not worry about it!” said the servant to the princess, attempting to take the princess' mind off the topic, “Let's have you try this one on.” She exclaimed.

The princess sighed. Grudgingly, she abandoned the more favored simple dress for the more…eye-catching dress. She briefly glanced out the window as her servant aided her in dressing. Yet another beautiful sunset; in fact, it was better than yesterday's. The sky had a pale blue hue to it as the sun began its decent; its cloud-streaked sky was full of varying pallets of orange. It was truly different from other afternoons. What is it that makes it better each day? Why isn't it ever the same as another day? Why does its setting time always have to change? It was so vibrant. So different. So unique. So unpredictable. So beautiful. So ever-changing…but for the better. It's as if it feared to show one side of itself for so long. It was so…much like him.

Flashback

“Come on! Hurry up before they catch us!” said an eight-year old boy as he grabbed her hand and started running.

“But why? Did you do something wrong?” asked a confused seven-year old princess as she followed the pulling and tugging of her hand. “If you did something wrong, you should go and tell them the truth. That's what my mommy always says. She says…”

“Just shut up will ya?” he growled as looked over his shoulder to the shouting voices that were closely catching up. “We have to be quiet! Hurry up, all your mindless chatting is slowing us down. Come on, this way.” He urged as he pulled her into the narrow alley and ran on.

Slightly hurt by his words, she remained silent and continued on. She gazed at her surroundings as the world whizzed by. As a pile of crates came into view, she felt herself slamming into his back.

POOF

She turned her head from side to side, bewilderingly hunting for her lost friend.

“Down here!” a familiar voice growled from below.

She looked down at the floor, unprepared for what she was about to see.

“Kyo!” she whispered confusingly.

“What were you expecting, a magic lamp?” he spat irratedly. “Of course it's me, hurry up. Pick me up and hide in the crate… the one in the corner over…OY! What are you doing? Don't forget my clothes!”

“S-sorry. I just…I was…I mean…”

His ears drooped a little.

“It's okay, it wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have stopped so suddenly…I…”

Their conversation was interrupted by approaching footsteps and shouts.

“Shh, come on! The crates!” he whispered as he leaped for one. She followed and hid in the one next to his.

“Where could that little brat have gotten to?” asked an annoyed guard as he eyed the crates and began walking towards one.

“Don't worry, he's not that hard to miss … orange hair and all. We'll see him again soon. Come on, let's see if he went the other way.” Said another guard.

“What about his little friend?” asked the first one as he peeked into a crate, “should we search for her too?”

The princess held her breath.

`Oh no!' she panicked. `I'm a bad kid now. Mommy is going to be so sad with me. What should I do? What am I going to do?' she thought.

“We don't have a really good description of her…don't worry about it. It's just some girl… what can she do?” snickered the second guard as he began to walk away.

After their voices faded away, she finally breathed.

“Whew! That was close. I don't think I could forgive myself if I became a bad kid. Heh, I don't think mommy would be happy either.” She added.

“Oy,” said a muffled voice from a neighboring crate. “Can I have my clothes back or are you going to hog them all day?” asked an irritated Kyo.

“Oh, sorry Kyo. How silly of me. Here you go!” she chimed as she threw them into his crate.

After a few seconds, he stood up, fully dressed.

“Um, Kyo?” she asked.

“What?” he asked as he reached over and grabbed his bag.

“How did you do that really cool magic trick?” she asked with eager eyes.

“It was so cool, and you were so cute! Can you teach me?” she begged with large eyes.

Kyo just stared at her.

“Huh?” he asked. “You mean, you don't think I'm…weird?” he asked softly.

“Um…I don't think you're weird, but you are special.” She laughed. “That's what mommy always told me anyways. Nobody is weird, we're all just special in different ways. But since we're all different, some things might not be as normal as others, but that doesn't make you weird. If one person is weird, than…honestly, everybody is weird.” She smiled.

Kyo continued to stare at her.

She suddenly drooped.

“I'm sorry, I guess I'm being a bit too weird for you now. I'll stop.” She said, slightly down.

Upon seeing her changing demeanor, Kyo snapped out of it.

“Oy, don't you take your own advice? You just said no one is weird, so why'd you say you were? You're not weird, you're just…” he stopped, unsure of how to continue. “…you're just special…very special.” He said softly as he smiled awkwardly, hoping to earn her raised spirits.

She looked up, obviously taken back.

“Come on, before those guards come back again,” Kyo stuttered as he turned his red face away and started walking. “We have to get you home before the nightfall.”

She looked up at the sky as they exited from the alley. She gasped at the sight that met her eyes. The sky was a canvas of orange. It was everywhere and everything. It was so pretty.

“Hey Kyo, look at the sky,” she said, “it so pretty and bright, just like you.”

Kyou stopped short. Being sure to not bump into him again, she stopped herself as well.

Kyo turned to face her.

“Do you really think so?” he asked.

“Well…yeah. Don't you?” asked a confused princess. She was met with silence.

“Do you still have the bag?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Um…yeah. Here.” She said as she handed the bag to Kyo.

“Now is the time for you to go home.” Said Kyo.

“Why? It's not dark yet. I still have plenty of time before anyone notices that I've been gone.” Asked the princess.

“I… I'm just worried. I don't want you to get hurt…or involved. You could've gotten in trouble because of me today. You should go now.” He said as he lowered his head.

Armed with a million different “mommy-quotes”, she began to say something when she was interrupted.

“Don't worry, I'll explain everything tomorrow.” Said Kyo as he gave her another awkward smile. Something in his eyes told her to let it go.

They walked in silence to back of the palace. As she was about to sneak back in through the servant's door, Kyo stopped her.

“Oy, just in case…I don't see you tomorrow, will you…do me a favor?” he mumbled as he looked at the floor.

“Sure, what do you want?” she asked as she turned to face him.

“Wait for me,” he whispered.

She blinked. `Was he going somewhere? Did he plan on moving? What's going on?

As more questions whirled around in her head, she failed to notice that Kyo had moved away.

“Kyo, wait!” she yelled as she began to panic. “Are you leaving?” she asked sadly.

Kyo just stared down at her. A long, dreadful silence followed.

“I'm…not sure.” He replied as he looked up at the orange and pink filled sky. He looked back down and was surprised to see her crying.

“Oy, why are you crying?” he asked, panic ridden all over his face.

Silence.

“Oy!”

More silence. Kyo was really getting irritated from this. A million ideas flew through his head as he desperately searched for something to cheer her up…an idea suddenly came to mind.

“Tohru?”

She looked up into his crimson-red eyes.

“Tohru, don't worry, if worse comes to worse, I'll still come back. Don't worry, I promise I'll come back.” He repeated.

Tohru gave a little sniff.

“Promise?” she asked.

“I promise,” he replied. Hesitantly, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. The taste of her sweet smooth skin combined with her salty tears would always be etched into his memory. He lifted his red-faced head and looked away sheepishly.

Tohru, who was taken aback from his actions, just stared at him in shock.

Kyo began to walk away.

“Remember to wait!” he called back as he walked into the now pink and purple hued sunset.

End Flashback

“Princess?” asked the servant.

Tohru snapped out her memory.

“Yes?” she asked.

“You are ready. It's perfect.” Replied her servant.

Tohru turned and looked into the mirror. She was met with a rather stunning princess in a pink and lavender hued dress. The colors and fabric matched her skin tone perfectly…she was the spitting image of an innocent goddess.

“Come,” said the servant. “The special guest I hear is a prince from another kingdom. I hear he's very handsome. The banquet should be starting now, let's get you over there.” Finished the servant as she began to lead the way.

Tohru sighed and gave one last look at the mirror. As she turned to leave, she glanced out the window and briefly noted the setting sun. She then turned and began her exit from the now pink and purple hued sunset.

Well? Good? Bad? This is AU by the way. Just for the record, I'm going to make it so that her parents never died. So, Kyoko-san and…whatever her dad's name is are alive. Does anyone know her dad's name? I own all of the English manga, and I refuse to read any summaries or scanlations of future mangas. I don't want to spoil it for myself. Although, I must say I all ready know about the chapter 97 thing and the kyo/akito deal…thing. I found those out by reading fanfics that had the spoilers in them that the wonderful authors failed to warn me about. I cried. I really wish they'd warn me ahead of time. Anyways, this isn't my first fanfic. I don't know, but all the fics that I read nowadays all have authors who are making their first fics. Where did all the veterans go? Anyways, I'm normally really good at making addictively good first chapters, but this time, I decided to keep it sweet and simple. Next chapter: Princess Tohru and Prince Yuki meet for the first time! Expect it…when I find time between Algebra II homework, AP Junior English homework, Journalism homework, la tarea de Espanol “(Spanish homework), and my other fanfic writings. Heheh