Disclaimer: I do not own Marchen Awakens Romance or any of the characters mentioned in this fic.

Notes: This fanfic spawned partly from my own demented imagination, and an RP I had with a friend on a forum, whose username is Anurizu. It started at the beginning of the year, and was meant only to be a crack RP. However, I already had a story in mind before the RP, but I didn't follow through with it because I thought no one would want to read it. But then, summer came, and bored one night, I decided, "Hey, what the heck, I'll just write it anyway." So here you go. Many parts are borrowed from the RP, and those ideas that were created by Anurizu will be credited to her at the end of each chapter. Also, please do not take this fic too seriously, as it was meant to be a humor/crack fic in the first place. Well, enjoy!

Cinder-Aqua

Part 1: The Beginning

Once upon a time, in a world known as Mar-heaven... In a lovely little village by the sea…

There lived a happy family, with their single daughter, whom they named Aqua. Aqua was a happy little girl, always spirited and optimistic, and she was always kind. Her parents were also kind people too, and when Aqua was 12, they adopted another child, named Loco. Now, Loco was quite different from most children. She was full of mystery—even Aqua's parents didn't really know where she came from. Although she looked about 10, she acted much more maturely for her age, and she was also quiet most of the time. She never made friends, or took interest in anything. However, Aqua and Loco got along well enough, even if they rarely talked to each other.

Then one day, disaster struck. Aqua's mother died of a severe illness, and in grief, her father married any woman he could find—unfortunately, it happened to be Rapunzel. Rapunzel was an ugly and mean woman with a heart as cold as ice. Now, Rapunzel also had a younger brother named Giromu, who was just as mean and ugly. With their looks, one would wonder why Aqua's dad chose to marry someone like Rapunzel, (but he was pretty depressed, I guess...)

Since Aqua's family was rather rich, Rapunzel and Giromu treated her father nicely enough. But when Aqua and her adopted sister Loco were left alone with the evil pair, they were bullied and threatened. Also, Rapunzel forced Aqua and Loco to call Giromu "step-brother" instead of "step-uncle", since that made him sound too old.

Anyway, soon after, Aqua's father died of grief (over his first wife) and Rapunzel inherited all of the family's fortune, just like she had wanted. Without a father to watch over them, Aqua and Loco were treated worse than ever, now having to wear rags and do chores all day while Rapunzel spent the family's fortune on grand luxuries for herself and Giromu. Unfortunately, they always treated Aqua the worst, since she appeared to be the oldest. And because she was always so dirty from cleaning the house top to bottom, and always covered in soot, they gave her the nick-name, "Cinder-Aqua". Throughout this harsh time, Loco was the only friend Aqua had, and they silently comforted each other in hopes that this bad time would all end soon...

-----------------------------

(Present)

Aqua, now a lovely young lady of 16, was bent over and busy scrubbing the floors of her large cottage. She wore worn-out, ragged dress that was old and moldy, and about a few sizes too small. (Her step-mother wasn't willing to buy clothes for her more than once every two years.) Due to it being so old, the colors had already faded, and it was now a boring grey color.

Despite all this destitution, Aqua still found time to be happy, and she hummed a tune as she worked. When she was finally finished cleaning the last patch of floor, she stood up and surveyed her work proudly with clear, light blue eyes. She brushed her short blue hair of the same color out of her eyes, just as her step-mother and step-un—no, step-BROTHER—came down the stairs with much a-stomping.

"CINDER-AQUA!" screeched Rapunzel like a banshee. She was wearing an atrocious green dress that showed WAY too much of her cleavage and had hideous bows covering it, as if they had been put on by some bow-maniac. Her dirty blonde hair was up in a drill shape (though how she got it to stay like that all the time was quite a mystery). She rarely ever let it down, and washed it even less (much to the distress of both Aqua and Loco). Whenever she was mad, she would threaten to spear Aqua with her hair (which was quite often too).

"Cinder-Aqua!" she repeated once again in case Aqua was too dumb not to hear the first time. "Have you finished cleaning the floors?"

"Y-Yes!" stammered Aqua nervously, wringing the wet cloth she was holding in her hands. "I hope that it's clean enough for you…"

Rapunzel surveyed the floor with eyes like an eagle, and, being satisfied, directed Aqua to yet another task.

"You shall now clean the back yard, then make us dinner, got it?"

"Yes ma'm!"

"Hey, where's the squirt?" asked Giromu, looking around with his beady little eyes. He was referring to Loco. He always called her that. His skin was a pale, white color, and he had spiky purple hair complete with a little horn at the top of his head. He also seemed to have a third eye on his forehead.

"Ah, Loco-chan is out buying some more groceries…" said Aqua hastily. There was a "creak" of a door opening. "Ah! That must be her now!"

And indeed it was. From the front door entered Loco, struggling slightly under the two bags she held. She quickly put them on top of a nearby table. Despite four years having passed, she still looked the same as the very day she was adopted. She had blue, blank eyes, and blonde hair tied in pigtails at the sides of her head. She also had two long bangs hanging down in front of her face and was wearing a dull blue dress.

"Loco is sorry that she is late." Said Loco in a monotone voice, who always referred to herself in third person. "Loco had trouble carrying home the groceries."

"Ah, there you are Loco." Said Rapunzel. She also didn't treat Loco so badly as Aqua because she forgot that Loco even existed most of the time. "You may rest now. I have nothing else for you to do. That is… unless my dear, sweet little brother Giromu needs anything." Here she looked at Giromu lovingly, eliciting a silent gag from Aqua and a rolling of the eyes from Loco. Fortunately for their lives, Rapunzel and Giromu did not notice.

"Let's play Simon Says!" said Giromu, turning to grin at Loco evilly. A vein suddenly started popping in Loco's forehead, and her usually emotionless face turned into a look of slight annoyance.

"Loco does not wish to play your brainless games." …Was what Loco would have said, had Rapunzel not been staring at her menacingly. Instead, what she said was, "Loco does not think it will be fun for only two people to play."

"Who cares, if my cute little brother says it, then you must do it!" cackled Rapunzel evilly, sending scared birds flying from the roof of the cottage.

"If Giromu told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?" …Was what Loco would have said if she did not value her life. Instead, she replied sullenly, "Fine," and trudged up the stairs miserably, with Giromu in the lead, to his room.

"Cinder-Aqua!" screeched Rapunzel shrilly, turning her attention back to the poor girl again. "Why are you still not outside and cleaning the backyard? If you don't finish cleaning and making our meal by sunset, I'll send you to bed without dinner!"

"Y-yes ma'm!" sputtered Aqua as she quickly rushed outside, not wanting to face the wrath of an angry Rapunzel. Especially one with sharp, pointy hair.

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Meanwhile, in a dark alleyway, two thieves were roaming the streets… Or, to be more exact, one thief and his luggage carrier were roaming the streets.

"Why do I have to carry all this stuff, Nanashi-san!" whined a long, blond-haired, pink-eyed, effeminate young man. He was wearing a light blue, long-sleeved shirt and white pants. He was also carrying a large pack of stolen goods on his back.

"Because you can't do anything else, Rolan!" muttered Nanashi angrily, sneaking along the dark alley. He too had long blonde hair, but it draped over one of his green eyes. He also wore a red headband, with a red shirt and white pants. "I'm the only one who's good at stealing, so you're the one who gets to carry all the stuff! Be glad you even have a job!"

"But, but--!" wailed Rolan, but he was immediately silenced by Nanashi.

"Quiet! I hear something…" Nanashi stopped at a wall and then stood on his toes and stealthily peeped over it.

"Nanashi-san! It's not nice to peep--!"

"SHUT UP!"

But the pair was stopped in the middle of their argument as a loud sobbing sound resounded from the other side of the wall. Nanashi turned to look over the wall again, and Rolan, overcome with curiosity, peeked over too.

"Hypocrite." Muttered Nanashi, as Rolan's head appeared next to his. Rolan only made a face at this statement. The sobbing noise continued. Nanashi and Rolan found that it belonged to a young girl in rags with blue hair…

"I'm sick of this!" sobbed Aqua, sitting on an old stone bench in the shade of some trees, with a broom laid on her lap. "I can't take anymore of step-mother's treatment! She has no right to treat us like this, even as our legal guardian!"

"Hmm, looks like some family trouble…" whispered Rolan.

"Gee, ya think?" Nanashi answered back sarcastically.

Aqua, sobbed some more, then suddenly quieted. She quickly wiped away her tears and stood up.

"No," started she; "I can't let step-mother and step-brother see me like this. I won't give them the pleasure of knowing how miserable I am. I'll just keep smiling and working! I know that someday, this will all end soon. Someday…"

And with that, Aqua began sweeping the backyard, smiling all the while. Nanashi and Rolan felt that they had enough of peeping as they slipped back into the shadows.

"Aw, such a poor girl…" said Rolan, sighing. "She seems like a nice person whose luck just didn't seem to work out."

"Yeah." Replied Nanashi simply.

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Night fell quickly, like a thick black curtain descending over the village. However, while Aqua and Loco were faced with the task of pleasing their overbearing relatives; and Nanashi and Rolan were going thieving in the cover of the night; there happened to be yet another problem far away, in a place known as Kaldea…

"What do you mean, punishment?(!)" screeched a pink-haired witch with gleaming red eyes. They were narrowed in anger towards an elderly man with a very long white beard. The elderly man seemed unfazed by this spectacle.

"Dorothy, since took one of the ÄRMs from the storage without my permission," said the man; "You shall be punished just like everyone else, princess or not."

"Oh, yeah, that…" muttered Dorothy nervously. "But it was only one little ÄRM…"

"Your punishment…" continued the Elder as if he had not heard her; "Is that you will be exiled from Kaldea until you have finished a task. And the task is that you have to do 100 good deeds before you are allowed to return."

"A hundred? No prob!" said Dorothy happily, breathing out a sigh of relief. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes, there is one more condition…" started the elderly man again, making Dorothy gulp loudly.

"You will only have a limited amount of magic during this time, and if you waste it all, you won't get more."

"WHAT?(!)" cried Dorothy loudly, for a witch without magic was like a fish without water. "How can I complete this task with only a bit of magic?"

"Not everything needs to be accomplished by magic, Dorothy. That is a lesson you must learn."

With that having been said, the old man clapped his hands together, and a gold wristband appeared on Dorothy's left wrist. It had the numbers, "100" on it.

"You may take any of your stuff," continued the old man. "As long as you can carry it all."

"My broom and ÄRMs are all I need." Said Dorothy angrily, mounting her broom and flying out of Kaldea, towards a small village by the sea…

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It was early morning the next day, when there was a knock on the door of Aqua's cottage. Aqua was busy making breakfast when she heard the knock.

"I wonder if that's the milkman…" said Aqua to herself, as she rushed to the door. But when she opened it, all she saw was a short dog with overalls and a Santa hat on his head. He also wore glasses, perched on top of his nose.

"Greetings!" said the dog in a gruff voice. "My name is Edward, and I am the Prince's loyal servant. I am here today to give you all invitations to the royal ball that will be held in one week." He took out four invitations from a large bag he was carrying.

"Oh my, a royal ball!" exclaimed Aqua excitedly.

"Yes, and at this ball, the Prince will choose his next wife--" But Edward was interrupted by a loud stomping noise as Rapunzel and Giromu stomped down the stairs quite noisily. Loco followed slowly behind, having just been awakened by all the commotion.

"What's going on here?" shouted Rapunzel angrily, seeing that Aqua was not doing any work.

"Ah, Step-mother, the Prince of this village had invited us to his royal ball!" put in Aqua quickly, before Rapunzel had time to punish her. Rapunzel's anger seemed to disappear when she heard this.

"I ball, hmm?" she asked, noticing the dog cowering behind Aqua in the doorway. "And you are--?"

"I-I'm the Prince's loyal servant!" said Edward when addressed. He then proceeded to relate the whole speech again.

"So, the Prince is finally picking a wife?" said Rapunzel wickedly. "I guess I'll go…" With that, she grabbed the four letters from Edward and read them. She smiled evilly. "Oh, we won't be needing this one…" said Rapunzel, ripping Aqua's invitation in front of her very eyes.

"No!" cried Aqua, eyes filling with tears.

Loco gasped angrily at this display, Giromu laughed wickedly, and Edward just stared in shock. Rapunzel let out a long cackle as she threw away the ripped letter nonchalantly. She then turned her gaze to Aqua, who had fallen to the floor. Loco had rushed to her side.

"Cinder-Aqua!" shouted Rapunzel, her anger rising again. "Get back to work!" With that, she turned and went into another room, cackling all the while, with Giromu following behind.

"I'm so sorry, young lady…" said Edward sadly to Aqua. "There is only one copy of the letter for each and every person. I'm… sorry…"

"Leave." This was said by Loco. The dog obeyed, and left silently. Loco then turned to look at Aqua again, who was quietly sobbing.

"Aqua…"

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Meanwhile, as Edward was walking through the village, delivering more letters, he happened to pass by a familiar shady pair who was sitting at an outdoor restaurant…

"Hey, Nanashi-san," said Rolan, chomping on a buttered bun which was his breakfast. "I wonder what those letters are for…"

"They're invitations for a royal ball." Said Nanashi, matter-of-factly, one of the letters held in his hand. Rolan did a double-take.

"Nanashi-san! Where'd you get that?" asked Rolan surprised.

"I stole it." Was Nanashi's simple reply. This threw Rolan into something of a fit.

"N-Nanashi-san! That's someone's invitation! If we steal it, that person won't get to go!"

"Don't get into such a fuss, I was going to return it anyway… And I think it's time we should get going."

With this, Nanashi stood up from his seat at the table. Rolan did the same, once again lugging the bag of stolen goods along. As Nanashi passed by Edward, he quickly slipped the letter into his bag, without the dog even noticing that it had been missing.

"So…" started Rolan slowly. "Are you going to the ball?"

"Heck yes!" said Nanashi. "There will be tons of rich people, and lots of stuff to steal!"

"That's all you ever think about, isn't it…" muttered Rolan quietly. However, what he was unaware of was that Nanashi also had another motive…

To be continued!

More notes: Yes, first chapter finished! I plan on making this a five-chapter fanfic, so that's one down, and four to go! ((groans slightly)) Anyway:

-chan: This is just one of the many honorifics that the Japanese put at the end of a person's name. It is used as a term of endearment, mostly towards girls, but it can also be used for little boys, pets, etc.

-san: Used after a name to indicate respect. It's sort of like saying Mr., Miss, Ms., or Mrs. It also used by people as a polite way of addressing someone.

?(!): These may look kind of out of place, but that was the only way that I could put a question mark and an exclamation point together, since this site doesn't allow it. I have no idea why, but I find it quite annoying…

Oh yeah, and I hope the partner parings don't annoy anyone… I thought Loco would have been a good friend for Aqua. Also, I just always seemed to think that Nanashi and Rolan would be good partners, but I don't know why… Maybe just more of my demented imagination…

See you next time!