A/N: Well, this is for the contest. It might not exactly be what I'm supposed to write, but I stick to the idea that a story writes ITSELF. When I thought of Yuzu and Jinta, imagined those two in my head, let my imagination run free, this was what was born. This was the tale that pressed to come out and it wouldn't give any other ideas the chance to take a breath. So I don't regret writing this, I enjoyed IMMENSELY doing it and I put all the love and care I could in every and each paragraph. So read and hopefully enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I don't know Bleach or the characters in it.

Once upon a time, in Karakura town, a kingdom far, far away, there lived a fair maiden, named Yuzu. Her mother had died long ago and she had taken upon herself the heavy burden of taking care of the needs of her family. She had a twin sister and big brother (whom she preferred to consider as a sister as well) and a sweet, hyperactive daddy who ended up with a kick in the face from his kids for various reasons throughout the whole day, every day. It was an interesting life for a fair maiden.

The kingdom was ruled by a wise and very honorable king, known as Urahara, who rejected the old-fashioned crowns in favor of the beauty of green and white striped hats that were also very amusing to try to knock off. In addition, he enjoyed carrying around a very manly fan, because he didn't like to get hot.

The prince, named Jinta, was unequivocally the most charming creature ever to walk the lands of the far, far away kingdom. He had no particular aim in life, except maybe hitting baseballs with fat heavy sticks. Which added to his charms.

In one, not particularly special day in Karakura town, a very wise idea came to the wise king's mind.

"What could be wiser than the organization of a ball for all the beautiful maidens in my lands tonight!" said Urahara as he waved himself with his royal fan. We would like to add that aside from the fair maidens (after a few moments of musing) the king decided to invite everybody else as well (even though he still insisted on having mainly ladies) for he wasn't sure what he would do with a hall full of women only.

No sooner said than done! The town crier was sent to announce the news and it wasn't long before the whole kingdom was buzzing with excitement. There were maidens flitting everywhere searching for the right dresses and shoes, honorably and femininely (but not so gently...) dealing with other maidens who got in their way. That included lots of magnificent hair-pulling, tripping, screams, biting and kicking. Indeed, Karakura was full of most mesmerizing sights that day and even if it was scaring the shit out of the tourists, the wise king was more than delighted to have caused such a fuss with his wise decision.

At that same moment, there was a fierce discussion going on in Yuzu's home.

"I am very sorry to disappoint you, but I am afraid you cannot go!" her overprotective daddy announced, taking a self-important stance "For safety reasons."

"But how come sis can go!" Yuzu objected.

"Karin can take better care of herself." Isshin pointed out and his other daughter grinned.

"Yup, I kick ass!" The black-haired girl said.

And that was pretty much the end of the extremely fierce discussion.

That same evening, everybody left for the ball, leaving poor maiden Yuzu alone in her house. Being the kind-hearted girl she was, she didn't want to argue with her family (especially Daddy), but deep inside she felt very sad that she couldn't join them. After all the things she had heard about the prince and how charming he was, it was a secret dream of hers to see him in person and it seemed to her that tonight was probably the only real chance she would ever get. Moreover, even if she did decide to disobey and go to the ball, she had nothing acceptable to wear. How unfair could life be?

Luckily for her, not too much, at least in fairy tales like this one.

Suddenly, just as she was sitting in the kitchen, feeling sorry for herself, a small "pop" sounded through the house, and in a cloud of pink smoke there appeared a gorgeous little fairy with sparkly wings and kind face.

"Hi, there, little girl!" said the gorgeous little fairy "My name is Yumichika and I have come to help you!"

Yuzu gazed at the fairy for a few moments, blinking with confusion.

"Aren't you supposed to be a woman?" the fair maiden asked.

"New rules in the fairy codex." Yumichika said, fixing his hair "We only need to be gorgeous now."

"Oh." Yuzu smiled "Okay!"

"Right." Yumichika said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he scanned the girl "Now we need to make you look stunning... Well, not as stunning as me, that's impossible, but at least half as stunning would be acceptable..."

Yuzu smiled again. Yumichika ignored her, then pulled a mirror out of his pocket, looked at himself and nodded.

"I'm ready now!" he said, taking a deep breath as he closed his eyes, concentrating. Yuzu felt like she should close her eyes and concentrate, too, even though she felt a great urge to peek.

One minute later...

"You look flashy!" Yumichika announced, winking at Yuzu. She blinked.

"Are sure?"

"Absolutely! I've never seen anyone looking flashier than you. Yup, ever."

"But I'm wearing a tree costume..."

"You'll have all the dwarfs at your feet at the dwarf party!"

"I'm not going to a dwarf party..."

"You're not?" Yumichika questioned, frowning, then pulled a notebook out of nowhere and started searching for something. A few moments later his lips formed an "o" and Yuzu assumed he had understood his mistake "Right, you are going to the royal ball... Well, the prince isn't particularly a dwarf, but considering his height he doesn't need to be and you could... Fine, you don't have to look at me like that! I'm changing, I'm changing.... Sheesh..." the fairy took another deep breath and closed his eyes.

Five minutes later the fairy maiden was kicked out of her own house, wearing a baseball uniform.

"Here" the fairy said on the doorsteps, stuffing some cash in the girl's hand "Get a taxi. And come back before midnight, because the drivers take double after that."

"Wait!" Yuzu shouted when the fairy started to close the door "Why am I wearing these stupid shoes?"

Yumichika looked down at the girl's crystal shoes and raised a brow.

"Well, obviously, you look flashy in those." he said and shut the door.

Later that evening...

When fair maiden Yuzu showed up at the ball, all heads turned in her direction, fascinated not only by her unique wear but also by her gentle beauty. The prince was no exception and he, too, looked up and fell silent with awe. In the very same moment his eyes met the soft brown ones of the girl, something in the world around them cracked. Everybody in the hall, every single man and woman, disappeared, leaving Jinta and Yuzu alone in their newly discovered universe.

The two walked towards each other as if mesmerized, words failing to come out right, hearts refusing to cease their wild throbbing. It was inexplicable, yet it felt absolutely right and neither of them dared questioning it. Why would they? There were too many things out there without explanation, so really, why would they clutch to the very one that flamed nothing but joy into their chests?

The night flew so quickly, it was frightening. As soon as Jinta and Yuzu were done feeling awkward, they were suddenly talking without a halt. There were just too many things they wanted to tell each other, too much that they wanted to discuss and way too little time to do so. It felt like a mere moment after they had first met when Yuzu noticed there were just a few more minutes to midnight and said:

"It's late. I have to go now."

"But it's barely twelve!" Jinta whined, taking her hand in his "There's plenty of time till sunrise!"

"I'm sorry, I had a wonderful time, but I really have to go." she pulled away gently and was about to add something, when a painfully high-pitched scream tore through the air, making them both cringe and look at the direction it came from.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY LITTLE GIRL!?" Isshin cried, pointing his index finger accusingly at Jinta.

"Daddy!" Yuzu exclaimed, her hands shooting up to cover her mouth.

"I think that's her boyfriend." Karin announced calmly and another heart-breaking scream tore from daddy's throat.

"He looks upset." Jinta pointed out carefully, just to be granted with another scream.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!" Daddy cried, suddenly clutching to Ichigo's arm.

"I didn't do anything! Let me go!" Ichigo yelled, trying to unhook his father's hands from his body.

"HOW COULD SHE DO THIS TO ME!!" Daddy continued, almost knocking his son off balance as he shook him with desperation.

"Great. Now he'll go emo about it!" Karin groaned, folding her arms in front of her chest.

"Um, I..." Jinta began, shifting his head to look at Yuzu, but the brown-haired girl was already staring with wide-eyes at the clock on the wall.

"I have to go! Bye!" she suddenly screamed and darted out of the door. Without a second thought Jinta ran after her, leaving a very messy sight behind him.

"Wait! I don't even know your name!" the prince shouted but she was already too far away. He saw her catch a taxi in the distance and after that she was gone for good. The only thing she left was a single shoe of crystal, laying forgotten on the floor.

When he came back, the hysterical family had disappeared as well and he had no real clue of how to find his beloved now. Luckily for him, the wise king had seen everything and was ready to help with a bit of wise advice.

"You should go around and try this shoe on every girl in the town and that way you will find your girl." Urahara said. Jinta glanced at him and let out a low scoff.

"Yeah, right. I'm just gonna ask around where the most overprotective and hyperactive father lives."

Jinta had obviously inherited his wisdom from his father. Soon enough he found his beloved and they lived happily ever after!

Reviews would be appreciated! ^^