Moonlight filtered through the window pane of Prince Katsuki Yuuri's room. Yuuri sat in the window pane, listening to the distant crash of waves against the cliffside far below the palace walls and waiting for the sun to sink below the horizon. He refused to fall asleep, feeling the tug as soon as the colors of sunset had faded and the lanterns began to flicker on.

When the only sound left echoing through the palace was the sound of the crickets chirping in the new moonlight, Yuuri moved from his place in the window pane and left his suite, cloak sweeping behind him. Wrapped in black, Yuuri crept through the halls of the palace, treading lightly as to not wake any of the staff or, even worse, his family.

Tonight was special and he couldn't compromise it by getting caught sneaking out.

Finally, after what seemed like a long time, Yuuri slipped outside of the palace walls and onto the darkened streets of Edo. The streets, much like the halls of the palace, were deserted. Even the lights of the lanterns had gone out, put out so the residents could sleep soundly in their beds.

Yuuri moved quickly, silently, down the cobblestone streets, uncaring now of the noise he was making in favor of reaching the local inn. Every moment he spent on the streets was now moments he spent away from Viktor. It didn't take long for the inn along the harbor to come into view. It was a small thing, discrete in comparison to the giant silhouetted ships backlighting the inn. For the most part, only sailors stayed in the inn, tired travelers looking for a warm room and a comfortable bed; Yuuri knew that, on this particular night, the inn held much more than the average sailor.

Thankfully, the torches of the inn were still lit and the windows glowed in invitation.

Relief flooded Yuuri and he entered the inn, ducking his head when he entered to avoid the innkeeper's gaze. Unfortunately, Phichit was much more observant than that. So, instead of the discreet entrance Yuuri was hoping for, he received a sly smirk, a mischievous eye glint, and a single key.

"Third floor, last room on the left," his best friend and innkeeper said knowingly, slapping the key into his hand with a proud look on his face. "Go get him."

"Thank you," Yuuri whispered underneath his breath, pocketing the key even though he knew he'd need it soon.

"I'm just proud you finally got yourself a man," Phichit replied, clutching at his heart and wiping away fake tears from his eyes. "My little Yuuri is all grown up."

"Oh, shut up," Yuuri huffed, rolling his eyes as a blush crept up his face and down the back of his neck. The Prince broke away, leaving his best friend behind in favor of going up the stairs to the third floor and opening the last door on the left.

The room was dark, shadows cast along the floor and the bed as silver moonlight snuck its way through the drawn curtains and painted a single streak on the wooden floors. Yuuri shut the door behind himself, locking it before searching the room and finding nothing.

"Viktor?" Yuuri whispered into the darkened room, his fingers coming up to untie the clasp on his cloak. "Viktor?"

Silence met him and Yuuri couldn't help but feel disappointed. Viktor was supposed to be here. Did he forget? Had his ship even come in yet? Did he die at sea? God, he wouldn't even know if Viktor had died.

Then a door opened and light flooded the room, the deep orange glow of a dying candle. Yuuri's attention snapped to the doorway just as a figure appeared, ringing long silver hair with a towel wrapped precariously around his waist.

"Yuuri!" came a joyful greeting, a heart shape smile spreading across his face instantly at the sight of him. Yuuri couldn't help the smile that made its way across his face, it seemed that there was always a smile on his face with Viktor around. Viktor brought him joy and happiness that his other life couldn't. He was himself with Viktor.

Beyond those doors, he was His Imperial Highness, Prince Katsuki of Yamato.

He was sturdy. A leader to him people and a symbol of a bright, hopeful future to come under his reign. The crown he bore was a delicate silver, resting upon his dark hair as a constant reminder of the heavy burden weighing on him shoulders.

And by God, was that crown heavy.

Which was why he and Viktor met in secret at the inn. No one could know he was here because here he wasn't royalty, he wasn't an Imperial ruler; here he could just be Yuuri.

"You look worried, darling," Viktor said, his soothing voice coming closer as he took Yuuri in his arms. Concerned blue eyes sparkled in the low light as he tried to get a better look at Yuuri's face. Yuuri simply rested his head against Viktor's chest, listening to the beat of his heart instead of thinking of an answer.

"I just...missed you," he answered anyways, feeling a part of him snap into place.

Captain Viktor Nikiforov. His title and his name, though they practically meant nothing in this room. Not to Yuuri.

He was a pirate, brutal and unyielding in the face of him enemies and ever evasive of the Imperial Fleet. The bounty on his head alone would secure the future of just about anyone. Anyone but Yuuri, his fate was already sealed.

Natural enemies. They should be enemies. They should hate each other.

Titles came with expectations.

Viktor placed a kiss on the crown of Yuuri's head.

"I missed you too," Viktor said back, burying his nose into Yuuri's neck and placing a kiss there.

Yuuri only hummed in answer as Viktor's warm fingers slipped underneath his shirt and ran along him skin gingerly, leaving goosebumps in their wake. Viktor took to marking his neck, his teeth scraping gently along the sensitive skin. Yuuri shivered under the new attention.

"I…I've been thinking," Yuuri breathed, his hands tangling into Viktor's long hair and pulling him closer. Demanding more attention. "About what we mean. These meetings, us."

Viktor chuckled, deep in him throat, as his fingertips brushed against Yuuri's hips. "And?"

Yuuri tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat. He really did. The words about to come out of his mouth were certainly words he didn't want to say. But he couldn't get them out. He could never possibly hope to because he never wanted to say them. This was something he'd thought about obsessively though. Because as much as Yuuri cherished these moments, as much as these moments completed him, and as much as he loved Viktor, Yuuri knew the relationship would only end in absolute heartbreak.

"Yuuri?"

He didn't even know when the tears started falling. "V-Viktor...we...we can't…"

God, why couldn't he find the words?

The words were useless though. Tears of crystal had already begun to run down Viktor's face, his blue eyes vivid as they bore into him, pleading and desperate, "Yuuri…"

"I'm sorry," he said, unable to keep his own tears at bay, "I'm sorry. I wish it could be different but we...we can't do this anymore. I can't do this anymore. It - it'll only end badly for both of us. If there was another way, any other way, I -"

"Come with me."

Viktor's request stunned Yuuri into silence. Had he misheard? Certainly not. Hopefully not. "What?"

Viktor took Yuuri's hands in his own and pressed a kiss to his knuckles.

"Come with me," he repeated, louder and more confident than the first time with hopefulness underlying in his voice. "Run away with me. We could take to the open sea and never look back."

The Prince studied the pirate, trying to tell if he was joking with him, baiting him into a false promise. It was tempting, tantalizingly so. Yuuri had wanted adventure his entire life. A life trapped behind the wall of a palace was hardly exciting, especially with a library filled with the promises of adventure. Now, he was being offered an adventure all his own.

He bit at his bottom lip and looked Viktor directly in the eye, brown meeting blue.

"I can't just disappear, Viktor," he sighed, pulling his hands away from Viktor's and running them nervously through his hair.

"Then we stage it."

Stage his disappearance? Now that was certainly an idea.

"It wouldn't be easy."

"Nothing ever is, especially not love, but for you I'd do anything."

Yuuri could feel his heart swoon in his chest. So, he took a deep breath and thought it over. Abandon his family, his friends, his country for love? For Viktor? The only person that had ever made him whole?

"What do you have in mind?"

When you completely forget that you are supposed to be updating your fics... Anyways, this was Day Two of Royalty Week, with the prompt being starcrossed. I'm going to be honest, I was kind've hesitant about adding to this after the popularity of The Setting Sun (which I was completely blown away by) but as soon as I saw the prompt I immediately thought of this, so I had to.

I hope you all enjoy and I hope this prequel didn't disappoint!

Find me on Tumblr at silverphoenixwrites!