Hey, everyone! Another new fanfic writer here. Well, new to this site, not exactly new to writing in general. This is just the first story that I've posted here. Hopefully I can make a good impression. ^^

Anyway, I've recently fallen in love with this pairing. After searching for and finding very few ItsuHaru fics in existence (mostly depressing ones), I decided I had to write one of my own and ultimately give it a happy ending. (Oops, spoiler.)

This is my first time writing a TMoHS fic, as well as my first romance fic, so I ask that you please bear with my inexperience. ^^;

Disclaimer: I do not own The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. If I did, Endless Eight would have ended a lot sooner, and the Disappearance movie would be out in America already.

Anyway, without further ado, I now present the story: Princes and Frogs. Bon appetit!

"Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within."

-James Baldwin

Princes and Frogs

(A fairly far-fetched fairy tale)

Prologue

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a young and beautiful princess who - unlike typical budding princesses of her age - decided to build a castle high up in the air so she could keep a lookout for aliens, hoping they would one day realize their Kaguya-hime had been accidentally left behind on earth and come to take her back to the moon colony. When no sign from heaven appeared, she flew into an intemperate rage and ordered the architect's head to be chopped off.

.

Four years ago on a hot midsummer night, an adolescent girl broke into her junior high school in the heart of Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. There, she met a high school boy by the name of John Smith. Across the median of the campus grounds, the girl conducted the boy, and the odd duet composed a rhapsody to the stars:

"I am here."

Come find me.

Four years ago and halfway across the country, another boy was observing the night sky through his telescope. As a single shooting star streaked by, he thought he heard the rapturous voice of a young girl, calling out for someone.

.

The princess was a tyrant. She was loud, bossy, and impolite - not to mention arrogant. She ruled her empire with an iron fist, and her subjects lived in constant terror of her unpredictable moods. Whenever the princess grew bored, she would rashly declare war on other countries, leading the battalion into combat herself. Life was a game to her, people were her pawns she could command and conquer as she pleased. If she lost, she'd throw a tantrum, sweep the board with the back of her hand and start an entirely new game. One with her own set of rules.

.

The girl was not a princess, but a queen. A goddess, even. Upsetting her meant upsetting the balance of the world. She was the sun, the center the universe revolved around. Fly too close, and you'll get burnt. They had clearly marked his position relative to her the day he joined their ranks.

An unknowing child born with devastating power, spelling trouble and building towers from toy blocks, then knocking them back down in a senseless rage.

Yet, despite everything, she was only a child. It was their job to look after her, make sure she stayed safe and content. She was innocent, but not without fault. At heart, she was just a normal human child, after all.

At the time, so was he. But she was the one, first and foremost, who needed protection.

.

The princess locked herself in a tower. Any prince who came to rescue her was sent away, driven off, if not by the tangled maze of thorns infesting the perimeter, then by the auxiliary hail of curses and arrows. She didn't want to be contaminated by the plague they carried, these stupid knights and their silly traditions. She didn't need to be saved.

Eventually, they stopped coming. Good riddance, she says to herself- no one.

The princess sits on her throne and weaves a blanket of stars, watching the world pass her by through a magic mirror that her servants placed before her, seeing reflections but with minor touches to perfection. Waiting, willing, wishing for the summer dream to appear once again. Gild the lily, believe in the fantasy.

.

For three years, he watched her from afar. Silently supporting her palace's foundations. Never dreaming of rising above the clouds to meet her. Of course, she would never deign to look down, to see whose shoulders she was in fact standing on.

He was just another concrete block, a pair of hands to hold the sky to keep it from crumbling. Catch her from falling into the pit of melancholy that she dug for herself, time and time again.

For the most part, he didn't mind. He was simply doing his part to help save the world, after all. What job could possibly be more rewarding?

Out of sight, out of mind. She was the object of, but not the focus of his attention. As a person, her feelings were secondary to his true mission's objective. The weight of the entire world was heavier than the loneliness of an individual's heart.

At least... That's how things had started out.

To one person, she was the world.

But to the world, he was one person.

.

Armor gleams in the sun. Another prince has arrived - or rather, a laborer disguised as a prince - the first and last to be summoned. Unbeknownst to the populace, he's slain more monsters within those years than all the soldiers combined, and effectively brought peace to the land. He sees the way through the jungle and straight into the depths of the princess's soul. But by the time he realizes she's worth the fight and makes it all the way over there, it's too late. The princess had gotten fed up with waiting. She had already caught and wed a garden-variety frog who somehow slipped past the guards, and was satisfied.

Meanwhile, he's left stuck trimming the hedges. His armor's too heavy for the job, but he refuses to lay it down.

.

The stage was set. He had been cast as a background character. The starring role went to somebody else, who, in Itsuki's private opinion, was completely unsuited for the part. The director would never hear him complain though.

For her sake, he'd smile and act, wear the mask of an entertainer, play the clever fool solely for her amusement. All the while manipulating shadows behind the scenes. And if there was no applause for his performance at the end, well. What did he expect?

"Happily ever after" only exists in storybooks - and then applies principally to the main characters. Even if she had some magic lingering in her gaze and her breath and her touch left to spare, why should she waste any of it on him - the boy whose radiant smile became so commonplace it blends seamlessly into the backdrop? ...At any rate, the line between the real and the imaginary was Itsuki's responsibility to maintain.

(So then, at what point did he allow himself to become lost within a fantasy of his own invention?)

So there's the prologue. Sorry it's rather vague so far and feels more like a one-shot. There's a lot more to come though, so stay tuned!

Note: Updates will likely be very slow.

Last but not least, this story is dedicated to the following:

KHwhitelion (My wonderful friend/editor who's supported my ItsuHaru addiction and convinced me to get an account on here.)
xLaurie-Chanx (Who also puts up with all my ItsuHaru rants on YouTube and has helped fuel my addiction.)
Hitsuruki101 (She helped me develop the plot for this story. Unfortunately, her computer crashed so she can no longer come online. I miss you, nee-chan! Hope you can come back soon!)