mad_madam_m

Another Tumblr not!fic, because when someone comes at me and says "so let's talk royal AUs," my answer is always going to be a high-pitched shriek and some level of not!fic rambling. Originally posted here.

“Hey M do you want to talk about royal AUs in any way, shape, or form?”

WHY YES, YES I DO, THANK YOU FOR ASKING.

So Keith, right? Even as a prince, I think he’s going to be stupidly well-trained as a fighter. Think Zuko only without fire. Like, hell yes Keith will be able to dual-wield swords and he will be awesome at it.

So I think he might chafe initially at having a bodyguard because he can take care of himself, thank you very much.

But here’s the thing: Shiro is just as good of a fighter as he is. Maybe even better in some respects.

Keith’s not going to lie, that’s a little bit of a turn-on. (Okay, a lot of a turn-on.)

So he gets to spar with his bodyguard and Shiro is physically imposing enough that many people who would wish harm on the prince take one look at him and decide they have somewhere else very important to be.

It certainly doesn’t help that Shiro is kind and thoughtful and encouraging and an absolute nerd with a terrible sense of humor that Keith nevertheless finds endlessly endearing.

So it’s no surprise that he starts caring for Shiro as…more. More than a bodyguard, more than a friend. Shiro becomes someone that Keith wants by his side always.

BUT THEN.

The rival kingdom attacks, and Shiro is sent to the border with the rest of the knights because they need every man they can get and he is a brilliant strategist and tactician. Keith hates watching him go and makes Shiro swear to come back to him. Shiro promises he’ll return. Keith wants to kiss him, but he doesn’t. But from the fleeting look Shiro gives him, he wonders if Shiro wants the same thing.

One month passes. Then two. It’s at the end of the third month that they finally get word: the battalion Shiro was with was captured by enemy soldiers. Everyone is presumed dead.

Keith doesn’t handle it well. Keith doesn’t handle it at all. He refuses to believe that Shiro is gone, that Shiro could ever be gone. Everybody at the castle learns very quickly not to mention that in front of the prince.

Nobody else believes him that Shiro could still be alive. Nobody else wants to help him. So Keith packs up a very few things, leaves a letter for his mother, and takes off in the dead of night to go find Shiro.

Even with his knowledge, it’s hard living on the road for weeks at a time. But Keith keeps at it, keeps traveling, keeps hidden—because no one can know the crown prince is traveling alone and heading right for enemy territory—and keeps his ears open.

Sure enough, he learns where the prisoners are being held, and sure enough, he finds them and finds Shiro. Shiro, with a new scar across his nose and a tattered knot where his right arm used to be, but it’s him and he’s alive and Keith has never been so grateful for anything in his life.

And it takes some doing, but Keith manages to free him and the rest of the prisoners and they make their way back to friendly territory. Shiro is delirious with fever and exhaustion and Keith practically has to carry him most of the way back to the castle, nursing Shiro as best he can with his rudimentary field medicine skills.

But they make it back safely, Shiro is whisked away to the healers, and Keith sits by his bed day and night and glares at anyone who tries to make him leave for any reason.

So he’s there when Shiro finally regains sense and consciousness, looks up at him with wondering eyes and whispers, “You found me.”

Keith kisses his hand. “I’ll always find you.”

Shiro gives him a small smile. “I’m supposed to be the one saving you.”

Keith breathes easier for the first time since he watched Shiro ride away. “We can trade.”

Maybe it’s not the most romantic to have their first kiss be while Shiro is still abed in the healers’ quarters, but for Keith, it’s perfect.

It’s Shiro, so it’s perfect.

So after the cliffhanger at the end of VLD season 2—WHERE THE HELL IS SHIRO—I rambled this not!fic to a friend of mine and put it on Tumblr in 2 parts. I'll combine in the two into the post for the sake of simplicity. XD

Originally posted to Tumblr here and here.