AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello! Hello! I bring you another creation from yours truly, TundraGirl. But first, let me extend my sincerest thanks to 1quintisfan, Abby6666, Lilac Shimmer, and Guest for leaving reviews on my first story, Movie Night. You made my week utterly joyous! And a special shout-out to Paige the booknerd and GalaxyWaffle. Thank you so very much!

DISCLAIMER: TEEN TITANS and all related characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics.

CHAPTER 1 – For the Prince

It was the first day of spring. The sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing sweetly, and the flowers were abloom all over the fair kingdom of Gotham.

But the beauty of nature was lost to one Victor Stone as his eyes were set onto a peculiar, yet familiar sight.

At a distance was the crown prince kneeling atop a patch of flowers, conversing animatedly with a girl. The girl was dressed in a lilac gown and her lustrous red hair was braided over one shoulder. She nodded occasionally at the young prince beside her while picking small flowers and linking them into a flower crown. The prince beside her looked especially pleased at being with her as he continued to blabber and look at her with gentle eyes.

Victor might have found this scene endearing, if he wasn't aware of the real score between the two.

"What are you looking at, bro?"

Victor tore his gaze from the scene and looked to the person who plopped down on the grass beside him. It was his best friend, Garfield.

"That," he answered before gesturing to the two people with his lips.

Garfield looked to where he pointed. "Oh. He's at it again?"

"Yeah."

"Is that why we're here instead of training?"

"Yeah," Victor sighed.

Both lapsed into silence as they continued to watch the couple. The prince and the girl continued to speak for a while before she presented the finished flower crown to him. The girl donned a wide grin as she gestured to the boy. Then he bent his head towards her, letting her place the crown atop his head. She clapped in delight, and even though both Victor and Garfield were seated at a distance from the two, they can just see the fierce blush that the prince was sporting at the moment.

Both royal guards continued to observe as the prince took one of the girl's hand into his own and slowly bring it towards his face before placing a chaste kiss on her knuckle. They looked into each other's eyes for a while, lost in their moment.

But only for a moment.

The girl suddenly whipped her head away, seemingly looking for something. And from the other direction, another young man walked towards them, bringing a delightful smile to the girl's face.

The presence brought a frown to the young prince's face.

The intruder was another brunette, tall and lean. He strode towards the pair on the ground with grace and confidence. He kneeled beside the red-haired girl and brought her other hand – not the one the prince held – and kissed it reverently.

The girl's blush was evident even from where Victor and Garfield sat.

Then the intruder said something to the girl to which she nodded vigorously before quickly standing up. The young prince stood as well, slow and defeated. The girl turned to the prince and spoke, to which he answered with a nod and a tired smile. Then the girl turned, took the hand of the other boy, and walked away with him.

Ouch. Victor can feel his own heart breaking.

"That's harsh, dude."

"I know," Vic answered. "We've seen this play a hundred times over and it still stings."

"How much more for him? He's hopeless, man."

Victor deigned not to answer his friend as he kept his eyes on his prince who remained in the standing position the girl left him. He was looking at the direction to which the girl left.

Victor knew a lot of things about his prince. One of the things he knew about was the young man's attraction to Princess Kori of Tamaran. Not that he was the only one who knew about it, it wasn't much of a secret, really. But Vic knew the depth of the prince's affections. He knew that the prince was hopelessly head-over-heels for the princess. He knew the extent of the things the prince does just to please the young lady. And Vic knew just how much the prince hurts whenever his efforts were disregarded.

It wasn't that the princess intentionally dismisses the prince and all that he does to catch her attention. The fact is that Princess Kori was known for her oblivious nature. She was a sheltered little girl and was raised in a different kingdom with a very different culture. So she cannot really be blamed for the usual miscommunication.

Besides, she was already betrothed.

Victor cannot help but sigh, heavily. His heart ached for his prince.

"We gotta do something, Gar."

Garfield quirked an eyebrow at his best friend from his prone position on the ground, "What do you mean?"

"This can't go on forever, man." Victor turned to Gar with a serious face, "I mean the girl's already set to marry another. It's just—"

"Pathetic, I know," Garfield cut off with a frown.

"I was gonna say pointless," Victor retorted.

Garfield shrugged. "Same thing. But what did you mean we gotta do something? What, like, beat some sense into him?"

"You never last three minutes with him in sparring, Gar. What makes you think you can beat anything into him?"

"Hey!"

But Victor ignored him. "What I'm saying is we have to do something about this... obsession. I mean, he knows she's betrothed to another but he's still crushing on her, hard. Plus, the girl's downright ignorant of his affections. He deserves better than that!"

"He's in love, man."

"Love!? What does he know about love? He's fifteen!" Victor was practically yelling.

"Okay, dude, chill!" Gar put both hands in front of him, trying to calm down his excited friend. "I was just saying first loves aren't that easy to forget, y'know."

Victor took a deep breath to calm himself. He looked back towards the flower patch but the prince was nowhere in sight. He's probably retired to his room to sulk.

"Still," Vic sighed. "I hate seeing him so down like that. He should have a better first love, preferably one that is reciprocated."

"So what, you wanna hook him up with someone else?"

Victor's mind registered the statement slowly. Then his eyes slowly widened as a bubble of idea expanded inside his head.

It was a horrible idea, especially since it came from Garfield Logan, but it was something to start with. It might not succeed, might even prove to be a disaster, but Victor was willing to do anything for his prince. If he can pull a miracle, he will, all for his prince.

"Why not?"

ROYAL WOES

Prince Richard opted to have his dinner in his chambers. To Victor, it was an indication that the prince was indeed sulking. It only strengthened his resolve to help him get over his pointless crush.

Victor had a vague draft of a plan in his head but he needed to think it more thoroughly. He doesn't have much access to resources; neither does he have much time to spare. He needed some help, and he needed to think.

So he pulled Gar aside after dinner for a trip out to town. It was a Saturday night and there were no scheduled training for tomorrow. Victor needed to relax to better formulate the plan. And where better to relax than their favorite pub, The Hive.

The place was packed when they got there, as was expected of a Saturday night. But they were favorite customers, thus, they were quickly ushered in and into their usual table. Of course, Jinx met them to take their orders.

"Fancy seeing you two here," the pink-haired waitress greeted with an impish grin. "The usual?"

Victor gave a nod of assent at Jinx and she went on to prepare their drinks.

It was then that Victor noticed Garfield's silence. He turned to the shorter boy and elbowed him gently. "What's with the silence?"

Gar looked up at him. "What? Nothing."

Victor quirked an eyebrow, unconvinced.

Garfield let out a sigh and said, "Really, it's nothing, dude. I just remembered what you said earlier about first loves, and I just remembered Tara."

Victor's eyes softened at the name. Tara was Gar's first love.

"Yeah," Gar continued, "I think I kinda' know that feeling Dick gets whenever he's around Kori."

Victor didn't say anything and simply let his friend reminisce. He also knew much about Garfield and Tara.

They were interrupted as a huge guy appeared beside their table with a tray in hand. Victor looked up and gave a nod, "Hey, Mammoth."

The guy, Mammoth, returned the nod and placed two mugs at their table.

"Thanks, man."

Mammoth nodded again and wordlessly left.

Garfield quickly gulped down his drink, making a sound of satisfaction after. "So, what's the plan?"

Victor opened his mouth to answer but a call of his name interrupted him.

"Victor!"

Both turned to the direction of the voice and saw a red-head walking towards them.

"Roy!"

Roy wore a wide grin while clutching his own mug. He plopped down to an empty seat at the table. "Good to see you here, guys."

"We didn't know you were in town," Victor said.

"Yeah, we're just passing, actually. We're only here for tonight," Roy answered.

"We?" Garfield asked.

Roy gave a nod before gesturing towards the bar. "Wallace."

The other two turned to where Roy pointed and saw another red-head, one with shaggy hair, talking to Jinx. He was talking quite animatedly, his expression a complete contrast to the girl's un-amused face.

"Oi, Wally!" Garfield shouted. "Stop hitting on the bartender and get your butt over here!"

The one named Wally whipped his head over towards them and gave a wave. Then he turned back to the barista, mouthed a few words at her, before quickly sprinting to their table.

"Hey, guys! I didn't know you were here."

Victor smirked at the second red-head. "Does it matter? You're obviously only here for Jinx."

Roy and Gar laughed at the flush on Wally's face.

The next few minutes were spent chatting and exchanging stories between the four boys. Roy and Wally were from outside of Gotham. Roy lived in the small kingdom of Starling. Wally originally lived in Metropolis but at the moment, he is staying in Roy's place while his uncle is doing business with Roy's father.

The four of them met at a get-together hosted by Gotham once. The prince was originally introduced to them, and he in turn introduced them to both Vic and Gar, his personal guards. From then one, all five boys formed a bond of friendship.

After the stories were exhausted, the group settled into a comfortable silence. Then Victor remembered the purpose of this night-out.

"Hey guys, this might sound weird but," Vic started, "Do you know any available ladies you can maybe introduce me to?"

Silence.

Victor knew the question sounded absolutely absurd coming from him but the expression on both red-heads' faces were exaggerated.

Roy found his voice first. "Are you planning to cheat on Karen?"

Victor's eyes popped out. "What!? NO!"

"Then why-"

"I'm not even with Karen!"

"Really?" Roy asked, genuinely curious.

"YES! Where did you even-"

Wally cut in, "We've always thought you two were together."

Victor directed his glare at him. "No!"

"You mean, you haven't confessed to her yet?"

"Ye- I mean, no!"

"Riiiiight~"

Gar decided to save his best friend before he pops his head off his shoulder. "It's for Dick."

At that, Roy and Wally sobered up. "What?"

Victor then related the situation with his prince's dismal love life and his hopeless obsession on the Tamaranian princess. He also told them of his plan.

"So, an intervention," Wally stated.

"Yes!" Garfield agreed. "That's the word, intervention."

"Okay. So you want to find and introduce a girl to li'l Dickie in the hopes of curbing his unrequited love for Kori," Roy said.

"Yes," Victor replied.

Roy sighed. "Poor guy. Can't really blame him, though. Princess Kori is a jewel."

"A jewel who's engaged to Garth," Wally provided.

At the statement, Roy's eyes burned with envy with a tinge of hatred. "Lucky SOB."

"So," Victor finally cut in. "Can you guys help us or what?"

"How do you want us to help you? I've never personally played matchmaker before," Roy stated.

"Well, for starters, do you know any young lady?"

Roy gave a cocky smirk. "Oh, I do know a number."

Victor answered his smirk with a glare, "Someone for Richard."

"Preferably not one of your leftovers," Gar added.

Roy expressed shock at Gar's statement but neither Gar nor Vic wavered in their own expressions. Wally, on the other hand, was in deep thought.

"Does it have to be a princess?" Wally asked.

"Not really," Vic answered, "But you know nobles..."

Roy finally noticed Wally's expression and turned to him, "Why, Wallace, you know any noble lady?"

To everyone's surprise, Wally nodded. "Yeah, I know one."

Victor and Garfield lit up at that. "Is she single?" Vic asked.

"Yep."

"Is she a noble?" Gar asked.

Wally nodded, "She's every bit of a noble."

Roy piped in, "Is she pretty?"

At that, Wally gave a slow turn towards Roy with a meaningful smirk on his usually childish face. He didn't need to say anything, Roy got his meaning clearly.

"Who the heck are you talking about, Wallace?"

Wally leaned over towards Roy and whispered in his ear.

Vic and Gar watched the curious expression on Roy's face wash away as a slow enlightenment overtook it. But just as quickly, it faded into disbelief.

"WHAT!?"

"What?" Both Vic and Gar echoed Roy's outburst.

"Yeah," Wally answered mostly at Roy.

"Are you insane? Do you have a deathwish?"

Despite Roy's crazed reaction, Wally remained calm, looking pleased at himself. "Nope. I'm perfectly sane."

"But—"

"Who is it?" Victor cut off Roy and directed a look at Wally.

Wally opened his mouth to answer but Roy quickly clapped a hand over his face. "No, you loon."

Wally pried Roy's hand away from his mouth. "Why not? She's single, she's a princess, and she's gorgeous! Why not?"

"Because—"

Roy was cut off again.

"Who is it?" Victor asked Wally more intently.

Wally's answer was halted again by Roy's hand. "Wait a sec."

Roy turned the idea over in his head for a few moments. It was insane. She was the last person he'd want to hook up with someone, lest of all, Richard. But Wally made some good points. She was single, probably always has been and always will be, unless this little scheme worked. She was a noble, a princess, heiress to an entire kingdom. And she was a looker.

Alright, fine. She was downright gorgeous.

Still, this might end up bad. Rather than helping Richard, they might end up messing him more with this intervention.

But Richard needed help. And much like Victor, he'd do anything for him, except actually admit that out loud.

And also, the girl...

She kinda needed some help for herself, too.

And that's probably what Wally was building up on.

So, if the plan works, it'll be a win-win situation. They help Richard and they help her.

But if it fails...

He'll just blame it all on Victor.

"You're right, Wally. She's perfect."

Wally beamed, "I know!"

"Guys, you're killing us with the suspense! Who are you talking about?" Garfield gritted from his seat. Beside him, Victor had a constipated look on his face.

Roy and Wally looked at each other for a moment then gave each other a single, resolute nod. They both turned towards the other two – Roy with a confident smirk, Wally with a satisfied smile.

Then both said a single name at the same time. "Rachel."

To be continued~