Love of Wyndian Princess

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of BoF III. I just like to play with them and I am not making any money off of this fanfic. This is a sister fic to my first story 'Love of a Dragon Prince' I recommend checking out that one as well. The cover art is by fellow DA member Charmwitch so please drop by her page and leave her a comment! Enjoy!

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When did I fall in love with him? It had happen so fast, I think, or maybe it had happened slowly, so slowly that I never saw it coming until it was too late. I'll never forget the first moment I laid eyes on Ryu. We had met in, to put it mildly, unusual circumstances. I was a little girl of ten when he was brought to the Wyndian court by Balio and Sunder, two lowly crooks who wanted to use him to make some quick cash when they stumbled upon his 'little secret'.

I was sitting next to my parents when Balio and Sunder brought Ryu before the court. I didn't see him at first because he was in a cage covered by a thick sheet. The two crooks claimed that he was a dragon, a member of a race long thought to be extinct. When I heard this, I was excited as well as curious. Being a princess, I didn't get out much and on the rare occasions that I did, I never went further then the castle gardens and courtyard. I have never even been in certain parts of my own kingdom because I was only allowed outside the castle when my parents made public appearances and that wasn't very often.

Despite all the luxury and servants waiting upon my every wish, the castle was little more then a fancy prison. Nothing exciting ever happens in my life and I almost never saw anything or anyone outside of the castle so the chance of seeing a real live dragon was too great an opportunity to pass up. In my excitement and curiosity, I leaned forward eagerly when Balio finally pulled the sheet off the cage. Imagine my surprise when I saw a little boy about my age trapped inside of it.

While I was a little disappointed at not seeing the promised dragon, I was amazed at the sight of the little boy for he was unlike any boy I had seen before and I had seen many, mostly servant boys living in the castle or teen-age boys training to become Wyndian knights. Although he appeared a little frail, this particular boy was handsome almost beyond compare, even then as a child. He was fair-skinned with dark azure hair and dark emerald- green eyes and other delicate feminine features. He was so cute and innocent! I thought he was absolutely breathtaking even though my parents were unimpressed by him.

I was angry and disgusted at how those two crooks could display the poor boy before the entire Wyndian court like he was some kind of circus animal. I was also horrified when they started kicking the cage in an attempt to force him to change back to his dragon form. Their actions angered my parents so much that they ordered the two to be thrown into the dungeon- along with the little boy. I just couldn't believe how my parents could do that. The two crooks, I understand, but the little boy? It didn't make any sense since he did nothing wrong. I couldn't just sit idly by while he was being unjustly imprisoned so I decided to go to him when no one was watching me.

I don't know exactly what was going through my head when I snuck my way past the sleeping guard, taking the cell key with me, and went to free the mysterious little boy. He was greatly surprised when he saw me as were Balio and Sunder. I guess part of the reason I did it was because I felt sorry for him but there were also other reasons that I was not aware of at the time. I was fascinated by as well as curious about him. I guess another reason was that I was lonely and wanted a friend. I didn't realize it then, but meeting Ryu would change my life forever.

He didn't even know me but from the moment we met, Ryu protected me with his life and he did it because he truly cared for me as a friend, not because I was the princess or because he was expecting some kind of reward. When Balio and Sunder tried to kidnap me after I made the stupid mistake of releasing them, Ryu had distracted them long enough for me to escape even though he knew he stood no chance against them alone. He saved my life more times then I can remember throughout our journey, the first time being when he changed into a dragon to break my fall after we jumped off a cliff to escape from Balio and Sunder. What started out as an attempt to get away from the two fiends soon became an adventure I'll never forget. It was through Ryu that I was able to meet and make friends with people I never would have known if I had stayed at home. People such as a brilliant engineer named Momo, a Guardian named Garr, a Woren clansman named Rei, and a mutant plant named Peco.

At first, Ryu wasn't interested in learning about the origins of his people, the Brood. All he wanted was to find his two 'brothers', Teepo and Rei, from whom he was separated when Balio and Sunder attacked them in the woods. It was when Garr told us of the possibility of them being killed that Ryu finally decided to go with him to Angel Tower. Of course, he didn't want to give up his search but he couldn't ignore Garr's logic that the only reason he survived the assault was because of his dragon powers. We now know that Ryu wasn't the only one with shape-shifting powers who survived (his friend, Rei did as well) but that was what Garr thought at the time.

Even though I knew it had nothing to do with me and even though I knew I really shouldn't, I willingly followed Ryu, Garr, Momo, and Peco to Angel Tower to learn more about the Brood. Of course, in doing so, I greatly worried my parents and I have always felt guilty about that. Ryu must have sensed it for he did his best to make me forget about my worries. When Garr and Momo were setting up camp, he would play with me and Peco, casting aside all his own problems just to make me feel better. We'd run around, chasing each other, and giggle like we didn't have a care in the world. I'd teach him how to make daisy chains and he'd teach me how to cartwheel. Then we'd go to the stream to fish, pick flowers, and play in the water. That was when, I believe, that I had unknowingly begun to love him. He was, after all, the best friend I ever had.

Unfortunately, our childhood friendship didn't last. When Ryu mysteriously disappeared from Angel Tower, I was distraught. I had been suspicious of Garr from the start and was greatly alarmed when he asked to be alone with Ryu. I only agreed to it out of respect for my friend's wishes. When the tower started collapsing around us, Momo grabbed me and forced me to escape with her despite my protests that we couldn't just leave Ryu in there. Garr had refused to tell us what had happened and since we couldn't find Ryu, we had no choice but to separate and go home. Garr himself took me back to the castle, watching over and protecting me the all the way home. Probably because of guilt over what had happened to Ryu.

My grief over losing my best friend was almost unimaginable. I cried myself to sleep every night for months and rarely left my room unless it was necessary. I kept to myself, rarely talking to anyone else, even my parents. I just wanted to be left alone with my grief. Of course, I couldn't hide from the world forever and as time went by, I returned to my normal life but I never forgot the mysterious boy who had suddenly come into my life and left just as quickly.

I never understood why, but deep down, I had a feeling that Ryu was still alive out there, somewhere, and it would only be a matter of time before we meet again. That was why I turned down every one of my royal suitors, men from the highest ranks of Wyndian nobility. Their wealth and power meant nothing to me because they could not make me feel the way Ryu did. Everyone thought I was crazy, pining for a thief while being courted by the richest and most powerful men in my country but I couldn't care less what they thought, not even my parents.

My parents never liked Ryu and told me to just forget about him. To all the world, he was just another orphan, a poor country boy and petty thief, unworthy of a princess. I, on the other hand, knew better. Yes, it was true what they said about Ryu being poor, orphaned, and a thief, but I knew that there was much more to Ryu then meets the eye. No one would have guessed that he was the long-lost prince of the Brood and that his seemingly frail body housed a strength that rivaled even that of Garr's. He was a child with a secret that even he doesn't know and I'm not going to spoil it here.

I knew that Ryu would come back to me one day and vowed to wait for him no matter how long it took. I waited seven years and just days after my seventeenth birthday, Ryu showed up in McNeil Village with Garr while I was conducting an investigation regarding Mayor McNeil and the smugglers from Syn City. I was so overjoyed at seeing him again after seven long years that when I was sure no one was watching, I grabbed him in a crushing bear- hug and planted soft kisses on his cheek. He had changed so much from when I last saw him. He had grown from a scrawny little whelp to a strong, fine, and strikingly handsome young man who turned heads wherever he went.

Like I did when we were children, I choose to follow and help Ryu on his journey to learn about himself and the Brood. I even had the pleasure of meeting one of his childhood friends and 'brother', Rei. I knew my parents would object (and they did), but I chose to leave with Rei when he used the teleporter beneath the castle to escape.

Even after all this time, I still haven't told Ryu how I felt about him but I think that he already knows and I could tell that he was having difficulties expressing his own feelings as well. Upon our reunion, I have noticed that the one thing about Ryu that hasn't changed was his shyness, especially around girls. It makes me smile whenever I think about the time he fell over when a little fairy kissed him as a little boy. I'll never forget how he blushed when I hugged and kissed him upon our reunion and I'll also never forget the stab of jealously I felt when I saw him blush upon seeing Deis standing in front of him naked at Angel Tower. The woman stood so close to him that her bare breasts pressed against his chest and if I didn't know better, I'd say she was flirting with him and it still makes my blood boil whenever I think about it.

I know that Ryu cares for me as much as I do for him even though he won't admit it. He is the kind of person whose actions speak louder then his words and the time he spent caring for me after I fainted from a heatstroke in the Desert of Death was no different. Not only did Ryu carried me all the way to the oasis town the last two nights we spent in the desert, he also insisted on watching over and tending to me himself day and night for half a week even when the village elder, Fa'ah, offered to have a servant do the job instead. That proved how much he loved me more then words ever could and because of that, I want to be with him always. Whenever I gaze into his beautiful green eyes, I wonder: what secrets do they hide?

As I look back on our journey, I feel glad to have met Ryu. He had changed my life in ways I never thought possible. If I had never met him, I would have never been able to see the world outside my castle, nor would I have met my other friends. As the end of our journey draws near, I can look back and say that I have no regrets. I will stick by Ryu and my other friends no matter what lies ahead and when our quest is over, I will finally come out and tell Ryu my feelings for him in hopes that he too will bare his soul to me as well. I want us to have a future together because I can no longer imagine my life without him. I vow to stand beside him through thick and thin.

And above all else, I will always continue to love him.

                                           Fin

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this little snippit. Check out its sister fic 'Love of a Dragon Prince' and its sequel 'Confession of Love'.