Prologue

The truth of a Princess

Only a true princess watches over her with a loving eye. She sees its beauty, golden and true. Despite it's rumors and reputation, she is the only one who understands its majestic strength.

A princess should always be caring towards her people. When seen a gentle, honest smiles enhances her lovely features. Her smile graces her people with a calm serene feeling during their stressful hour. She is the light who leads them through the dark. Never allowing her true fears to show.

A princess is loved by all, noblemen or simple peasants, they all love and trust her to protect them from all that would cause them harm or despair. She holds the trust of far away kingdoms and realms.

A princess remains clearheaded through any and all situations. Revenge is a word she's never thought of. That's what a true princess is. A protector, a lover. She's gentle, honest and always genuine.

But that's not all a princess is. Though she shows no fear in public and acts as though nothing could faze her; there is a heavy burden atop of her shoulders. She is the heart of her kingdom; and being a heart is also being vulnerable. She deals with the civilians well-being, yet she has no power of her own. She is a monarchy and being a monarchy is both a blessing and a curse.

She carries the burden with her head held high. She will carry her mask to keep the peace and calm in her realm.

Fore a True Princess knows just how to please her crowd and use her mind as her weapon. Call her weak and you insult all strengths that are in this world. A princess is strong. No doubt about it.


Haruhi sighed softly as she scraped down the last word. Her hand ached slightly from her non-stop writing, but she felt pleased over her work. Her father always did say that words came out better in paper than her mouth.

A small smile stretched her lips as her eyes reread the inked words that ran across the pages in her new leather-bound journal. A gift from her father on her 16th birthday. She had decided to write down her thoughts on what a status had for meaning.

She reached forward and lightly traced the words. The parchment felt rough under her finger and she could feel the slight dent in where the feathered pen had scraped. The ink was, thankfully, dry and did not smudge when she continued to caress it. Her mind filtered through the words and slowly she allowed her hands to shut the book and leaned back against the large oak tree.

Her big brown doe eyes looked out at the scenery. She sat upon a hill not far from her kingdom wall with a magnificent view over the lands she had vowed to protect. The mountains behind the kingdom partially hid the sun's radiant glow as the stream twinkled in it's light, swiftly flowing past the gap of the mountain and into a lake just outside the forest that surrounded her kingdom.

Her gentle smile grew as she tilted her head back against the rough bark, ignoring how the bark pressed awkwardly against her bare back. Her hands folded atop of her flowing skirt that bellowed around her like a blanket. She closed her eyes and listened to the nature around her.

Birds chirped from their nests, water moving in it's stream; never being in the same place twice, the wind as it rattled the tree's leaves. She could faintly hear the hustle and bustle of the citizens in her kingdom; peasants working to the bone for their nights supper while the knights patrolled their walls.

Then there was her own first hand knight, sitting down the hill breathing deeply as he scanned the area with a dutiful eye. She could hear him, his breath and silent muttering. Kasanoda Ritsu, her knight and friend.

Her lips parted by the length of her smile. Listening to her friend angrily muttering about how heavy armor and hiking do not mix enlightened her.

"Be glad you don't have to wear a corset." She called as she sat up slightly, opening her eyes; she could just barely see the top of Kasanoda's flaming red head from where she was perched. She could see from the slight bounce of his head that he was startled.

"Thank the lords for that, my lady." He replied as he began to walk up the hill, his feet dragging slightly from the long walk. "But, you don't know about the heavy burdens of a night." He scowled.

Haruhi laughed softly and began to pluck the grass beside her.

Kasanoda was a feared man, considering his harsh facial expression and rude behavior she had always found him to be amusing and never once second guess her decision for choosing him as her knight. They were, after all, friends long since childhood.

Her father, though, was never comfortable with this arrangement; considering the crush her knight had had on her. But Haruhi was not one to be swayed easily and stood firm when she decided to appoint him as her protector.

She cared not for what his family's past doing were. She knew his family had once been a part of an assassination team that the king before her father had appointed. During the times where her kingdom was pulled into the dark and was hated by so many. If her father had followed his father's footsteps then she would never have been born and the kingdom would still be in it's dark hour. It saddened her greatly to think that way.

But what was worse was that Kasanoda was hated by so many because of his family's reputation. Their debt may have been paid, but the memories of the people were still engraved in the minds...

It was a long and painful argument between her and her father, but it was one phrase that broke him...

He protected me long before you did, father!

"Princess Haruhi?" Kasanoda called while snapping his fingers in front of her face. "Princess, are you in there?"

Haruhi jerked back in surprise as she blinked in confusion. She lightly shook her head as she analyzed her situation. "I'm sorry, Ritsu. I was lost in thought there."

Kasanoda huffed as he settled down next to her, his giving the area a quick scan before settling on her. "Do you want to share your thoughts?" His eyebrows furrowing in concern.

Haruhi smiled softly at him reached over to pluck a fully bloomed flower that nested by the close to the trunk of the great oak tree. "It's nothing really... I was just thinking about our past."

Kasanoda sighed as he shifted his body to his back against the tree next to her. He settled back against it with his head tilted and eyes closed. "Don't ponder on things that happened so long ago. You know what I always sa-"

"The past should just stay in the past." She finished with a slight shake of her head. She sighed as she twirled the flower between her fingers while gentle caressing the petals with her free hand. "I just can't stop thinking about her though."

Kasanoda opened his eyes in shock and turned his head to stare at his first and only friend. "It's alright, you don't need to forget about her. I know I can't ever forget." He said as he gently nudged her with his shoulder. "But, if she were here, I bet she'd be proud over you."

Haruhi glanced up at him, his usual deep scowl was replace with a small smile. He barely ever smiles, but when he does it's only for her comfort.

Haruhi couldn't help but smile back up at him. Her emotions calmed and no tears were needed to be shed. "Thank you, Ritsu."

Kasnoda stretched his arms high above his head and stood up. "We should get back, it'll be dark soon and, you know how much his majesty hates it when you're home after dark."

Haruhi groaned as her smile fell from her lips. "Right, wouldn't want him freaking out."


"Ha-Ru-Hi!" came the screeching voice of her father as he literally attacked her with a bone-crushing hug. She could feel her shoulder going wet with the stream of tears falling from the king's eyes. "I was so worried! It's nearly dark and I've heard from a fortuneteller that there was going to be a storm tonight! Daddy didn't want his little girl to be out there during that nasty storm! Oh, how scared you woul-" And on and on he went; muttering nonsense gibberish over how scared she was of storms and how worried he was that he could have lost her.

After a good 15 minutes of his sobbing and going from storms to bandits and assassins Haruhi had finally had enough. "I've been on my own before, Father. Nothing happened. I'm fine." She said as bluntly as she could as she fended off her father's squeezing hug.

Her father's mood darkened and his crying lessened as his mind was suddenly pulled into a darker place. It took a moment for him to regain his barrings before facing his daughter again. "Please try not to come home so late."

Haruhi felt bad for reminding him of her lonely past. She knew it was a low blow, but her patience was lost and she felt the desperate need to get away.

"I'm sorry, Father. I will try better next time." She offered a soft smile, silently asking him for forgiveness.

The king crumbled under her gentle smile and was attacking her with a hug again. "My daughter! You're so cute!"

Haruhi could feel the slight anger tighten in her chest as she secretly groaned in annoyance. Her father could be overbearingly infuriating at times. "Father, Kasanoda mentioned that there was a surprise visit from the Oak realm's king. Is there something wrong?"

Her father tensed by the mentioning of the other king. Haruhi then understood that he had hoped to prolong this discussion. "Well, Haruhi... See, Yoshiro-san had come to propose a very generous offer." Her father said as he stepped back and held his daughter by her shoulders.

He stared into her big brown eyes and spoke softly, as if caring for a wounded animal. "It had me thinking..." He sighed and shook his head. He released her shoulders and held his arm out invitingly. "Come, this is a delicate manner. We should discuss this over tea."

Haruhi looped her arm with her fathers, her face was set in an impassive emotion. Her eyebrow twitching slightly in irritation as he quite literally dragged her out of the front room.


Haruhi and her father sat in a hidden garden with Kasanoda and many other guards strategically placed around the area. The moon twinkled lovely in the dark night sky. It was a full moon and it's light washed over the secluded area with a brilliant dim blue shine. It was beautiful and it hit the flowers with a radiant glow.

This was Haruhi's favorite place to be, other then her hillside outside the kingdom. It reminded her of her. Thought she had never once stepped foot inside this small patch of heaven, Haruhi knew that this was the place she would have loved to forever in. The gentle flowers were beautiful accompany with their sharp thorns, just like she was. Beautiful and determined.

"You're just like her, you know." Her father whispered as he too stared at the glowing plants around them. "You've got her spirit, her determination... her beauty." His eyes settled on his daughter and he reached forward to pull a lock of hair from her eyes and brush it back behind her ear. "You make me so proud."

Haruhi smiled at her father and took his hand in both of hers. She held them on top of the small wooden table that held their boiled water with sweet smelling leaves. She tilted her head to the side and gave her father a questioning look. "What did the king propose?" Haruhi demanded as she looked into her fathers eyes.

Ryoji chuckled as he placed his other hand on top of hers. "Always straight to the point." He smiled at her, but when she didn't return it he frowned. "Fine, fine. He had proposed that we open our borders."

Haurhi raised an eyebrow at her father, she now believed that this was all a scam to get her to spend some Father, daughter time! with him... again. She mentally groaned. "And where's the harm in that, father?"

The king cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly in his seat. "Well, you see Haruhi... He wants to become the strongest of allies." Haruhi nodded in response, not fully understanding her situation. "He wants to... bind our kingdoms together..."

Haruhi blinked in response, her features remained questioning as she stared at her father. "That's good, father. The Oak Kingdom is very strong kingdom ruled by Yoshiro Ootori. He's a very demanding man I have heard." She said with a nod. "I do believe creating a pact with him would be in our best interest."

To Haruhi's surprised, Ryoji fell out of his chair and came incontact with the stone floor; face first. She jumped and stared at her father with wide eyes. "Father?"

"You're an intelligent young woman, Haruhi." Ryoji complimented with a weak voice as he crawled back into his chair, quickly taking a large gulp from his tea; ignoring the burn his tongue had received. "But you're so oblivious at these sort of things."

Haruhi glared at her father, quickly filtering through what he had said and finding it all pure and innocent. "I don't understand, father. Please be so kind as to elaborate for me."

"He gave me a marriage proposal, Haruhi!"

Haruhi's eyes shot wide open as she stared at her. Her hands fumbled to grasp the handle of her cup. "I'm surprised... I had though King Yoshiro was already married, but I suppose we do have our..." She cleared her throat as she struggled to find the words. "interest..."

Ryoji's eyes twitched and his eyes met Haruhi's eyes with frantic expression. She could practically see his mind reeling and quickly trying to understand his daughter's words. When his mind had processed her meaning his face turned beat red and he began to splutter nonsense. He regained his composure and decided to just go with the direct route.

"Ha-Haruhi! He hadn't pro-proposed to me! He was asking for your hand in marriage." Haruhi's jaw dropped as she stared at her father, a hint of a blush dusted her cheeks. She watched as her father's face grew into a deeper shade of red as he realized his mistake. "I-I mean for one of his sons! His youngest to be exact! He wants you to marry his third son to bind our kingdoms."

Haruhi blinked a sense of relief flowed through her, glad that it wasn't Yoshiro himself who wanted her hand in marriage. She had relaxed into her seat when her mind suddenly progressed her father's words. "W-what? D-did you say no? I'm not ready for marriage!"

Her father smiled sadly at her as his face slowly returned to it's normal color. I understand that Haruhi, dear, but you are 16. You are now seen as eligible to any man who'd ask for your hand. Although I had told him I'd consider it, I had to run it by you first."

Haruhi took a moment to weigh her options. She didn't like being an object of a combining pact, but she was a princess.

She deals with the civilians well-being, yet she has no power of her own. That's what she had written in her journal. She realized now that it was her who had the power of binding a great kingdom together with her own...

It was just sad that in order to obtain this, she had to marry someone she did not love. No, she had not dreamed of a fairy tale love, nor did she wish for one. She never dreamed of her wedding days or thought of her perfect prince, but it was then when she had a choice. Now she wished that she did take the time to dream of such nonsense.

She wished she could marry out of love not merit.

"Haruhi?" Her father waved his hands in front of her face. She jerked back and for the second time of the day she found herself blinking away from a daze.

"Yes?" She said as she took a sip of her lukewarm tea, grimacing slightly.

"I'm not asking you to marry him, Haruhi. His proposal had me thinking and I wanted to do a coming out ball, where we'd invite everyone. There you could find the boy who would make your heart race. If I must bind my kingdom with another then I want you to be happy in the process."

Haruhi clenched her jaw slightly and smiled. It was forced and hollow as she nodded. "Then it's best we star preparing. I will help you with the preparations first thing in the morning. Good Night, Father." She then got up and left in a flurry of skirts. Her back straight as she waved off Kasanoda. She needed to be alone.

I don't know what to do, mom. Being part of the royal family... I miss our home. She silently thought as she determinedly strolled through the halls towards the haven of her chambers.


AN/ This is an AU story, pairing is unknown for now, but I can honestly say that it's a one-sided KasanodaxHaruhi romance! Love Kasanoda, but I can't really see him with her, so I put him in there as her protection! Yey! Oh, and this is also me being an idiot by taking up another story when I should really finish the others first... but, hey! They say that girls have superb multitask skills... Maybe tomboys have some of that talent .

Anyways, feedback is always graciously accepted and highly appreciated. Reviews are a writers fuel, remember that!