From: "P. Rico" Hello, hello, I'm back with another silly fic; not Aoshi 1/2 this time, I'm taking a short break from the series. I hope you enjoy it. Disclaimer: I don't own it. ******************* The Tale of the Sleeping Beauty By P.Rico --- Once upon a time in a kingdom far away (actually, that really depends on where you live) there was a noble, handsome king and his noble, beautiful queen. They day had finally arrived when the queen gave birth to their heir. The king and queen named their son, Aoshi. The entire kingdom celebrated the birth of Prince Aoshi and there was a big ceremony to introduce him to the royal court and the neighboring kingdoms. Also in attendance were three Good Fairies. The first fairy was the beautiful and elegant Megumi. The second (who preferred to be called Manly Genius with Magic Powers and toasted anybody who called him Fairy) was Hiko. The third fairy was the humble little Kenshin who Hiko loved terrorizing. Now each of the fairies decided that, instead of giving the prince some toys or clothing, they would give him something he could actually use for more than three months. Megumi stepped forward and sprinkled some fairy dust on the prince. "I grant thee the gift of beauty and grace," she said. "What's a boy going to do with that?" demanded Hiko. He stepped forward and sprinkled some Manly Genius dust on the prince. "I grant thee the gift of strength and intelligence so you can fight off and out smart all the guys who'll pick on you for being beautiful and graceful." Megumi just 'hmphed' and stuck out her tongue. Finally, Kenshin stepped forward to grant his gift but before he could do anything, there was a puff of black smoke and the Bad Fairy Yumi appeared. (Kenshin, actually, didn't mind the distraction because he hadn't decided what to give the prince yet.) "I was really disappointed that I didn’t receive an invitation to the ceremony," said Yumi. "I even had this new outfit made just for the occasion." "Your tailor ripped you off," said Megumi. "He didn't finish your kimono." Yumi glared at Megumi. A pair of fox ear appeared on the latter's head and she just laughed. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," continued Yumi. "Even though I wasn't invited, I still brought a gift," she sprinkled some bad fairy dust over Aoshi. "Stop her," Megumi told Hiko. "Manly geniuses with magic powers don't fight women," said Hiko. He then pushed Kenshin forward. "Go get her." "What?" But it was already too late. Yumi had already began the spell. "Prince Aoshi will indeed grow to be beautiful, graceful, strong, and intelligent like the other fairies…" "*AHEM*" "I mean…the other fairy and the Manly Genius with Magic Powers promised. But before his 18th birthday, he will be burned by a katana and die!" With that, she disappeared in to a cloud of black smoke. The king and queen were both distraught and nobody knew quite what to do. The Kenshin stepped forward. "I still haven't given my gift," he announced, then sprinkled some fairy dust over Aoshi. "When you are burned by the katana, you will not die, but merely fall into a deep sleep until you are awakened by a kiss from a brave and genki warrior." There was a long moment of silence. "Well?" "BAKA!" said Hiko. "Why didn’t you just cancel out the spell all together? And what's with that genki business? How many genki warriors do you know?" "And why did you say warrior?" said Megumi. "Why not a princess? This isn't a yaoi fic. How many female warriors do you know?" "Gomen, degozaru yo," yelled Kenshin as Hiko began to whack him around. However, the king and queen were grateful for the attempt. The king order all katana in the kingdom be destroyed. Then he gave Prince Aoshi over to the three fairies to hide and protect until his 18th birthday. The years passed and Aoshi indeed grew to be beautiful, graceful, strong, and intelligent. However, none of the fairies thought to give him a personality so he also grew to be somewhat moody, very quiet, unemotional, and, at time, cold. Every morning, Aoshi would meditate. Every afternoon, he would practice Kodachi Nitou Ryuu and other various Onmitsu fighting techniques (the fairies wondered where he learned it from since none of them knew anything about the Onmitsu). Every night, he would either continue to practice, read, or meditate. "That boy needs a girlfriend," mused Megumi one day. "Kinda hard to meet girls when you're holed on a mountain miles away from civilization, " Hiko pointed out. Aoshi was out practicing when he became aware of somebody watching him. "Who’s there?" A young woman stepped out from behind a bush. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to disturb you." "Who are you?" "My name's Misao. I'm from a village near here. And you are?" "I'm Aoshi. I live on the mountain." The two began to talk, or rather, Misao talked and Aoshi silently listened. Before they knew it, the sun was low in the sky. "Oh, no," said Misao. "I have to go before it gets to late." "It’s not safe for you to be out in the forest alone." "Don't worry," said Misao pulling out some kunai. "I can take care of myself." The next day, Misao returned with the hopes of seeing Aoshi again. Sure enough, Aoshi was there. Misao visited every day and the two became good friends. Some times they would talk, sometimes they would practice, and sometimes they would just sit silently side by side and enjoy each other's company. It wasn't long before Misao realized that she had fallen in love with Aoshi and Aoshi realized he had fallen in love with her. But neither of them knew exactly how to tell the other. One day, while walking back to the fairies' house after his morning meditation, Aoshi decide that he would tell Misao how he felt that day. However, he got a big surprise when he got home. Since the next day was his 18th birthday, the fairies told Aoshi the whole story. The also informed him that they would be leaving that afternoon to the castle. Aoshi didn't really like the idea of being a prince and rather liked being free. He also didn't want to leave. If he did, he might never see Misao again. "I'm not going," he told them. "Like you have a choice," replied Hiko. And he promptly bound and gagged the Prince and flung him over his shoulder. "Do you think the king and queen will appreciate you doing that to their son?" asked Megumi. "They didn't have to deal with him for 18 years," Hiko replied. Then said to Kenshin "You stay here." "Why?" "Because we don't need you messing things up." Kenshin grumbled something under his breath but agreed to stay. They other two left. Kenshin decided to go for a walk. He soon came across a sad looking young woman. "Hello," he said pleasantly. "What brings you to our neck of the woods." The young woman didn't even look up when he said. "I'm waiting for somebody. But it doesn’t look like he's coming." "A young man?" "Yeah, his name is Aoshi. Have you heard of him?" Kenshin admitted he did and decided to take Misao to the castle since it was obvious she was Aoshi friend. The other three arrived to the castle by sunset and Hiko and Megumi immediately locked Aoshi in his room then went to tell the king and queen. However, they had made him a little too intelligent and he quickly found a way to escape. He wandered down the hallways and finally made his way up the tower. At the top was a door with bright light coming out from under it. Aoshi became curious and opened the door. Yumi was inside. "Hello," she said in a seductive voice. Aoshi merely nodded. "Come closer, young man." "Perhapes I should come back when you've finished dressing, Ma'am," replied Aoshi politely. "Ma'am?" repeated Yumi. "Do I look that old to you?" "Well..." "You disrepectful little brat," Yumi snapped her fingers and her boyfriend, Shishio, jumped out from behind a spindle brandishing a sword. He scapped the sword against the floor and it caught fire. Aoshi was a near expert at Kodachi Nitou Ryuu, but he didn't have his Kodachi so it didn't help much. Shishi slashed at Aoshi and burned his arm. Aoshi immediately collapsed. Yumi laughed and she and Shishio disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Hiko and Megumi had by then discovered Aoshi was missing. They scoured the castle and found him asleep in the tower. "The king's not going to be happy," said Megumi. "Well, we'll just put the entire kingdom to sleep until somebody comes to wake him up," said Hiko. "Sure. All we have to do now is find a brave, genki, female warrior to come wake him up," mumbled Megumi sarcasticly. "How hard could that be?" So Hiko and Megumi quickly put the rest of the kingdom to sleep and placed Aoshi on the bed in his room. They were exiting the castle when Kenshin and Misao walked up. "What's going on de gozaru ka?" inquired Kenshin. "The Bad Fairy Yumi got Prince Aoshi," informed Megumi. "Baka!" said Hiko, whacking Kenshin. "This is all your fault" "Wha...How can it be my fault when I wasn't ever here?" "I don't know but I'm sure it is." "What going on?" asked Misao as Hiko continued to whack Kenshin. Megumi quickly told her the story. "I'll go awaken Aoshi," Misao announced. "Really?" "Yep, I'm brave, genki, and an Oniwabanshuu warrior," she said proudly. "She fits all the criteria," Hiko said. So Misao entered the castle to awaken Aoshi. On the way to his room, Misao encountered a few hired thugs that Yumi sent but quickly took them out. Finally, she arrived at the door. She was about to open it when Shishio jumped out from behind a plant. He chased Misao around for about 15 minutes before spontaneously combusting. Misao entered Aoshi's room and found the young prince asleep on his bed. She made her way over to the bed and kissed him lightly. It didn't take long for Aoshi's eyes to open. "Misao," he said, a small smile on his lips. "I was afraid I'd never see you again." He took her in his arms. "I love you, will you marry me?" Of course, Misao immediately agreed. The wedding was beautiful and this time, the king and queen remembered to send Yumi and invitation so she wouldn't get upset and try to curse the couple. Kenshin got fed up with Hiko constantly whacking him and calling him 'baka' so he moved into a dojo with a pretty, female kendo instructor who whacked him constantly and called him 'baka'. Megumi had also gotten fed up with Hiko so she went and started her own Fairy practice in a nearby village. Hiko was by no means heartbroken by the departure of the two since he now had the house all to himself and he could just sit around and drink sake all day. Yumi found herself a less combustible boyfriend and went into the fashion designing business. Aoshi and Misao ruled their kingdom fairly and wisely and were loved by everybody. And, of course, they all lived happily ever after. THE END ********************************* This little piece of silliness was inspired by boredom. Yes, this fic is dedicated to boredom ^-^. Thanks for reading. Laters. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Get your money connected @ OnMoney.com - the first Web site that lets you see, consolidate, and manage all of your finances all in one place. http://click.egroups.com/1/1636/4/_/_/_/951262356/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------