Digimon Cinder-boy

This fic contains shounen ai, so if the idea of Yamato and Taichi makes you wanna go 'bleugh

This fic contains shounen ai, so if the idea of Yamato and Taichi together makes you wanna go 'bleugh!' Don't read this!

This fic is AU, I'm not sure if it's been done before or not cos I been outta the loop… but this is my Digimon inspired adaptation of Cinderella… Sappiness, fluffiness, cross-dressing, shounen ai, general fairytale-ness, implied yuri and mild angst warnings!Err… and apologies to the 'evil step-siblings.'Someone had to be the bad guys! I like him, really I do! Her… I could do without!

**~ Cinder-boy ~**

** **

Once upon a time there was a man with two beautiful sons and a beloved wife.Sadly, the love died between his wife and him and she left him, taking the younger son with her.The older son, Yamato, stayed and with each passing day he grew more beautiful.

After a few years of loneliness the man finally met someone whom he could love, and who would care for his son.His new wife was beautiful but she was cruel.The man didn't see this and so he married her, and adopted her two children into his family.The wife hid her cruelty from the man, but she treated the poor motherless boy badly, forcing him to do all the work of a servant, while her own children lazed about.

After the man unexpectedly died, things became even worse for the poor boy.His stepmother made him move out of his room and sleep on the hearth instead.So poor Yamato curled up at night amidst the cinders.This made his stepsiblings' laugh, and one of them dubbed him "Cinder-boy" and soon everyone called him that.

~ * ~

"Cinder-boy!Have you finished the laundry yet?"

"N-no, ma'am, I was scrubbing the hearth…"

His stepmother glared at him."That should have been done hours ago! You're a lazy undisciplined boy!"

"Please, ma'am, the hearth was so filthy after Cook roasted the whole boar – "

"Silence! I will not be contradicted in my own house!"

_Once this was my house,_ Yamato thought – but he didn't dare say it out loud.

Yamato tried his best to work hard and keep out of trouble, but his stepmother and his stepbrothers were constantly picking on him and making life difficult.

He missed his younger brother Takeru, and his mother awfully, but he hadn't seen them in years._He probably doesn't even remember that he used to have a big brother…_ he thought miserably.He would remember the way his mother used to smile, and how Takeru used to cry all the time.He even thought about his dad, and how much he missed him._Why did you leave me with **her**? _he thought bitterly.Even his memories were tinged by the sorrow of his present circumstances.

"Cinder-boy!"Daisuke's voice broke through his reverie.

"Yes, Daisuke," he replied quickly.It wasn't a good idea to keep his 'brother' waiting.He turned to see what Daisuke wanted and realised his mistake.Daisuke was standing there with an angry expression on his face.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Cinder-boy?" He asked snidely as Yamato apologised.

"I'm sorry, Daisuke-_sama_," he said, whilst trying his best to look repentant.Daisuke liked to lord it over him that it was his house now and Yamato was little more than a servant.An unpaid servant.

"That's right, Cinder-boy!I'm your lord."

Yamato rolled his eyes.Discretely."What would you like me to do for you, Daisuke… sama," he asked, deliberately pausing before the honorific.

Daisuke's eyes narrowed."Look at you," he sneered instead of answering, "All covered in cinders, you're hideous!"He laughed, even as Yamato sighed.His hair, once shining and golden was now dull and matted.Even his skin, remarkably unmarred by adolescent acne, was grimy and blackened._Daisuke is right… I'm hideous!_

_ _

Daisuke grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled his face close."Mother is taking Jun and I to the Prince's Ball tomorrow, Cinder-boy. You can't come!"He spat the words out, wetting Yamato's face with his saliva.Yamato flinched back, but Daisuke's grip kept him from pulling away fully.

Daisuke seemed to find something fascinating about his face.He stared deep into his eyes and then suddenly, unpredictably he shoved him away.Shuddering in _disgust?_

He almost hated his family.He couldn't hate them though, it would give them power over him.So he held desperately to _not_ hating them.But it hurt, when Daisuke looked at him like he was something particularly offensive, like gum on the bottom of your shoe.

"Now iron all my clothes!And do it quickly," Daisuke couldn't leave with out a parting shot.It wasn't enough that Yamato couldn't go to the ball; he had to prepare things so that his siblings could.

~ * ~

Yamato pressed the iron carefully over Daisuke's shirt.He toyed with the idea of just holding it there until the fabric singed.It wasn't a good idea to annoy his brother._His mother would make sure I regret it…_ He had very unpleasant memories of what she deemed 'suitable punishments'

He wanted to go to the Ball, he wanted to dress up and meet people, and most of all he wanted to meet the Prince.Yamato had a dream that one day he'd meet a handsome Prince who'd sweep him off his feet and take him away from the drudgery of his life.

_Where are you my Prince, why don't you rescue me?_He even had an image of the Prince in his mind.He'd never seen the _real_ Prince, because he wasn't allowed out of the house - his stepmother didn't want the neighbours to see how poorly he was dressed and how skinny he was.The Prince in his mind was beautiful.He wasn't sure if that was the right word to use for a boy but it fit.He was tanned and toned and he had kind, laughing brown eyes.

~ * ~

Yamato spent all day preparing Daisuke's clothes, then, Jun came in and demanded that he do hers as well.

"No one irons quite like you, Cinder-boy," she said, insincerity dripping with sugary sweet sappiness from her voice.Jun scared him.Daisuke was fairly transparent with his cruelty, random acts of violence and such.Jun however, was sneaky.He never knew what she was planning.Sometimes she'd be nice to him.Too nice.Then, he'd know that she was planning something particularly cruel.

"Are you coming to the Ball with us, Cinder-boy?" she asked.Her tone was one of pleasant inquiry, but there was a malicious glint in her eye that unnerved him.

"No," he replied shortly.It was a calculated insult, Daisuke would have beaten him for it, but Jun was unpredictable.It gave him power over her when he made her act irrationally.

"I guess not," she answered herself, "after all look at yourself, the Prince would be disgusted if something like _you_ turned up at his Ball."

The insult shouldn't hurt him.He knew that he wasn't much to look at - his 'family' told him that often, and the mirror didn't say any different – but the thought of the Prince, _his_ Prince, looking at him like Daisuke had earlier upset him.

He finished the ironing in silence.Ignoring the jibes - Daisuke's physical ones and Jun's verbal ones.The temptation to just hold the iron there until the material began to singe was almost overwhelming._If I can't go to the Ball why should they?_Instinct kept the long sweeping strokes continuing for in his mind the shirt, the board, the house and himself were burning… burning.

~ * ~

Yamato sat in the dusty cellar and wept.His back ached from the beating his stepmother had given to his for "working deliberately slowly, so that Jun and Daisuke would be late."That wasn't what he was crying about though.The image of a handsome Prince rescuing him had been shattered into thousands of pieces… and with it went his hope.

"Why're you crying?" a voice asked.

Yamato looked up in shock, almost shouting in his surprise.A little old man was floating in the air in front of him.The old man had beautiful shimmery wings and was wearing a pink tutu.

"Who are you?" Yamato asked more interested in the strange old man then his own problems.The old man grinned, and for the first time Yamato noticed that his bulbous eyelids completely obscured his eyes._How can he even see me?_he wondered.

"I'm your fairy godfather," the old man said self-importantly, "my name is Gennai."

"Fairy godfather…?" Yamato repeated sceptically, even _his_ dreams didn't included cross-dressing old fairy godfathers.

"Yes," Gennai confirmed, "I've come to make sure you get to the Ball."Yamato felt one brief moment of elation before reality came crashing down.

"I have no clothes," he protested, "and besides, the Prince wouldn't want someone like me at his Ball."Gennai looked puzzled.

"What do you mean, Yamato?" he asked.Reluctant to state the obvious Yamato gestured towards his face.Gennai looked at him in bewilderment, taking in the appealing cornflower blue eyes, the grubby but still very attractive face and the matted gold hair."What?"  
  


Yamato looked at him as if he were an idiot."I'm hideous!" he almost shouted.Gennai looked taken aback."No you're not," he assured him, "you're dirty… but you're not _ugly._"

He waved his hand and a washbasin appeared, a charming wee mirror lay next to it and the basin itself was full of sweet smelling water.

"Go ahead, wash," he said, waving Yamato toward the basin.Yamato stood there for a second, unsure what to do.The cinders that had gained him his hateful nickname were also his protective shield, no one could see how ugly he truly was.

"Wash, Yamato," his fairly godfather had a fairly commanding voice when he wanted to, and Yamato was used to following orders, so he found himself dunking his head under the water and scrubbing his face and hair.

Finally he felt clean enough to face his reflection.Fully prepared to see a visage of Quasimodo proportions, Yamato was pleasantly surprised to come face to face with a cute guy.A _really_ cute guy.He took his time getting to know the contours of his face."I'm not ugly," he said finally, not wanting to appear immodest.Gennai laughed

"You're a good deal better than 'not ugly,'" he said, "now we have to find you something to wear."Yamato was only half listening; he was still busy drinking in his reflection._I'm **not** hideous!_ he thought exultantly.

Suddenly the secure, _familiar_ feeling of his rags disappeared."Waah!" he squawked, the shock was sufficient to tear his gaze away from his reflection.He wasn't wearing rags anymore; he was wearing a very pink, very frilly, very puffy _dress._

"Gennai?"he thought his tone was fairly calm considering the circumstances. "Why am I wearing… this?"No words could adequately describe the monstrosity that he was encased in.The old man had the decency to blush, but his grin was more amused than sheepish.

"Sorry, son," he said, not very regretfully, "I'm a wee bit outta practice.Normally it's girls who want to go to the ball."Yamato thought over this for a minute, and then decided he didn't really care."Can you please fix it?" he asked politely.He was unaccustomed to making requests, nowadays he took what was given to him – asking was not a permissible pastime for 'Cinder-boy.' 

Gennai's face took upon a look of extreme concentration, sparks began to flare over his head and smoke started to pour out of his ears.He waved his hand and again Yamato felt that uncomfortable feeling of being in something new and unfamiliar.He looked down.The pink was gone, the frills were gone; he was now wearing a very simple, very elegant black… dress.

"Best I can do.Now, for transportation…" Gennai seemed ready to completely skim over the fact the Yamato was dressed like a girl… like _Jun_!_I'd rather be dressed like Daisuke than her,_ he thought.

"Excuse me, but I _can't_ go like this," he said.Gennai looked resigned."I'll deal with it later," he said and waved his hand.In a flash of smoke and sparks and other magical substances a swan-shaped boat, a weird looking dog and a pair of large shoes appeared.

The dog shook itself and glanced around."Yamato?" it asked.Yamato blinked._Did that dog… thing just talk?_"Um…" he stuttered, he didn't want to answer in case he had imagined the thing talking but he didn't want to appear rude.

"I'm your friend, my name's Gabumon," the thing said.It obviously wasn't a dog he could see that now, it had a horn and it was blue.Gennai smiled down at them, "Gabumon is your Digimon," he said, explaining nothing.

Yamato sat down."…Digimon?" he asked.He had heard the legends when he was little, tales of mystical, magical protectors… children's tales.Gennai nodded, "Yes, he's _your_ Digimon." he confirmed the madness.

Gennai glanced at his wrist and then picked up the oversized shoes."Yamato!The Ball will be over before you get there!"he shouted, throwing the shoes in Yamato's direction.

Yamato pulled the shoes on in a daze._Perfect fit,_ he thought.He did have feet that were a trifle large, and since his stepmother wouldn't buy him new clothes it had been _years_ since he'd had shoes that actually fit him.

"All aboard!" Gennai called, indicating that they should hop into the swan-boat.Gabumon jumped in right away, Yamato followed more slowly.He was scared that the Prince of reality wouldn't match the Prince of his dreams. And there was something else… _I'm still wearing a dress!_

"Gen-!" Before his exclamation could fully emerge Gennai was waving his hand, reality was blurring and, abruptly, he was outside the Prince's palace.

~ * ~

"I can't get out."Yamato wasn't budging.Gabumon sighed,"It's a very pretty dress," he reassured Yamato, who simply glared at him.

"I wasn't really going to make you," a disembodied voice claimed.Then with an all to familiar feeling Yamato was wearing a green… suit.He looked at it for a couple of seconds, and then shrugged._A suit, even a green suit, is better than a dress,_ he thought.

"Thanks, Gennai," he said, "Now, let's go to the Ball!"Without waiting for an answer he jumped out of the boat and began to run up the stairs."You gotta leave by midnight!" Gennai's voice halted him in his tracks.

"Midnight? But-!" he began to protest."I'm only on a restricted fairy godfather license," Gennai admitted, "I'm not allowed to do magic after midnight."

"So?"Yamato didn't see the connection."So, if you're not outta there by midnight than you will end up back in your rags with no transport home!"

"Oh." Yamato really didn't want any Prince seeing him in his rags, and since he hadn't been out of the house in _years_ he had not idea how to get home."You can keep the shoes," Gennai assured him, "they wouldn't fit anyone else."

"OK, I'll be back here before midnight," he said, then returned to running up the stairs."Aren't you forgetting something?"Gennai's voice stopped him, again.Yamato glanced around."Nope."

_ _

Gabumon coughed pointedly."He's referring to me," he said.Yamato looked confused, "What am I meant to do with you?" he asked.Gennai's voice answered him, "He's your friend, your protector, your Digimon." 

"I'm coming with you!" Gabumon explained."Whatever."Yamato was at the Ball; he didn't care if a weird dog-thing came with him.

~ * ~

He stood outside the room, just looking in.Now he was here, watching couples dance, seeing finely dressed men and women interact, he wasn't ure if he could go through with it._I don't know how to dance…_ For some reason this loomed in his mind as the greatest problem.But before he had time to freak out any more he felt a shove against his lower back and he was inside.

"Gabumon!" he shouted, and then realised that everyone was looking at him.He blushed, this was not the best of entrances.

"Hello," a familiar sickly sweet voice was greeting him._Jun! _"H-Hello…" he stuttered with fright, silently praying that somehow she wouldn't recognize him.Around him people were returning to the conversations that he'd interrupted.It had only been those directly in front of the door who'd noticed him, he realised with relief.

An arm slipped through his own and Jun's happy face was smiling up at him with predatory interest."I'm Jun!" she exclaimed happily, "What's your name?"Yamato looked at her in shock, _She doesn't recognize me?_

"Uh… Takeru?" he answered using the first name he thought of.Jun looked puzzled for a second, wondering where she'd heard it before."Let's dance!" she said, losing interest in the name's familiarity.

Yamato looked panicked."Uh… um…" _I can't say 'no'… that'd be a major insult but I can't dance… and I don't want to dance with her!_Jun was looking at him expectantly, waiting for his acquiescence.He searched desperately for an escape, his stepsister – who hated him – was hitting on him!

"Jun, who's this?" Yamato could almost have kissed his saviour… if it hadn't been Daisuke.Now both his stepsiblings were looking at him."I'm Takeru," he said, repeating his lie.

"We're going to dance," Jun said, pulling on his arm.Daisuke looked disappointed, "Can't you stay awhile?" he purred, looking at Yamato through half-lidded eyes._Aaagh! How do I get out of this… with my virtue intact?_

_ _

"I have to find my… friend," he said, looking desperately for Gabumon._He's supposed to protect me!_As if on cue the Digimon appeared.Jun screamed, "Takeru! There's a monster!"

Even Daisuke went a little pale, and hid behind Yamato.

Yamato extracted his arm from Jun's and walked forward, "Thankyou," he mouthed."This is my friend Gabumon," he said, indicating the blue wolf thing to his siblings.

Then, before they ha time to get over the shock, he walked off.Gabumon trailed behind, a wolfish grin on his furry face._Next stop: the Prince._Yamato wandered the great hall, desperately looking for someone Prince-like, whilst doing his best to avoid Jun and Daisuke.

Gradually he made his way over to the most crowded corner of the room._Everybody else must want to meet the Prince too,_ he thought.Suddenly someone tapped him on his shoulder, he spun around, expecting to see Daisuke or Jun, instead he was looking into a pair of dancing brown eyes.

"Hello, I'm Taichi," the stranger said cheerfully, offering his hand.Yamato shook it in a daze, _those eyes… they belong to my dream-Prince_.He was so surprised to meet his dream-prince – in the flesh – that he didn't hear him speaking.

"Pardon?" he asked, when he finally realised he was being spoken to, Taichi laughed, "I asked if you wanted to dance," he said.Yamato blushed, he had noticed as he was searching the dance floor that men didn't dance with men, so it was rather odd that this stranger was asking him to.He shrugged inwardly, he was never going to meet any of these people again so it didn't matter what they thought of him but…

"I don't know how," he blurted out.Taichi laughed happily, "Neither do I," he confessed, "But we could always shuffle along in front of each other and pretend to dance."

Taichi's good-humour was infectious, so Yamato found himself agreeing.The odd couple attracted many stares as they shambled around the dance floor, but they were too wrapped up in each other to even notice.

"You didn't tell me your name," Taichi pointed out.Yamato nodded, "Sorry," he said, "People call me… Tak-Yamato."For some reason he felt he could trust this stranger with his real name."Takyamato?" Taichi asked.Yamato shook his head, "Just Yamato."

Although the pair talked easily there were many evasive glances and hesitant pauses that revealed they were both hiding things.But conversation flowed and before Yamato realised it the clock was striking midnight.

"Aaagh!" he cried in shock and disappointment, "I have to go now."He fled without even saying goodbye, but in his hurry he didn't notice his shoelace coming undone."Gabumon?!" he called as he ran, "We're leaving!"Then he was outside and fleeing down the stairs.Unfortunately (or fortunately as the case maybe) in his frantic race against time one of his over-sized shoes fell off, and it was only through Gabumon's efforts that he even made it into the boat.

"Wait!" Taichi yelled, but already Yamato, Gabumon and the Swan boat were gone. 

~ * ~

Prince Taichi sat forlornly on his throne.He was bored, through and through.His father had already had a go at him for 'making an unseemly scene' at the Ball, and his mother had sat right through it and shook her head sadly._Why does it matter to them anyway?It's not like I asked to be Prince… and Hakari can carry on the family line so they don't need me to reproduce._Although the Ball was meant to be for him, his father had been trying to use it to find a suitable daughter-in-law, something Taichi wasn't keen on.

"I have to find him," he said, not realising that he spoke aloud."Find who?"The voice surprised him, but he didn't let that show."Hakari," he said, "What are you doing here?"He loved his little sister, but it was odd to see her up and about this early.She had been sick recently and needed her rest.

"Takeru wants to go fishing," she explained, "Who do you want to find?"Taichi smiled at his younger sister, he was glad she was feeling well enough to go outside and he knew that Takeru – a friend from childhood – would take care of her."A man I met last night," he explained, Hakari accepted him for who he was.She nodded, "The guy in the green suit."

Taichi wasn't really surprised, she had always been very observant."Yamato," he confirmed.Hakari looked thoughtful, "Takeru has an older brother called Yamato," she said, "he told me about him once, one of his earliest memories is of his brother taking care of him when he was hurt."

Taichi smiled, "Perhaps Takeru's brother and my… friend are the same person," he suggested.Hakari smiled in response, "That would be just perfect."

~ * ~

Yamato could almost have cried in frustration, he ha been sitting through _hours_ of Jun arguing with Daisuke over 'who Takeru liked best.'He wanted some privacy to think over his meeting with Taichi, to remember the feel of his skin, the smile in his eyes.He found himself wishing that he'd been more honest with his dream-Prince, that they hadn't discussed such trivial things.It didn't help that he'd been forced to lock Gabumon in the basement.For some reason Gennai had left the blue Digimon.Gabumon said it was because they were meant to stay together and protect each other. 

"I have to clean the basement," he said suddenly, if he ha to listen to another minute of their bickering he'd go crazy!Jun nodded, "Do a good job!" she ordered."I danced with Princess Hakari anyway," Daisuke said, ignoring Yamato, "She likes me, and if I marry her I'll be a Prince."

Yamato breathed a sigh of relief as he escaped them, now he could visit Gabumon.He found himself liking the creature more and more.Gabumon had known exactly what to say last night, Gabumon_ understood _him.

A knock at the door sent him scurrying to the basement even quicker; he wasn't allowed to let visitors see him."Gabumon?" he called and was answered instantly by a blue form glomping him."Heya!" he said cheerfully, honestly glad to see his new friend.Gabumon mumble an equally happy greeting but then indicated he should be silent.

"The Prince has requested that everyone in the land try to fit this shoe, he has declared that he will marry the person who fits it."

_ _

Yamato started in surprise._I left my shoe on the stairs outside the Palace_ he thought._Surely it can't be my shoe…?_Gabumon smiled at him, "Go try it on," he whispered.

Yamato crept to the top of the stairs, he didn't want his family to see him and get angry.He peeked around the corner and saw Jun placing her shoe inside his large blue sneaker._It is my shoe! _

"Perfect fit!" Jun declared, but she tripped over when she tried to take a step."My turn!" Daisuke shouted, ripping the shoe from her foot, but he too fell flat on his face.

"Is there anyone else in this house?" The bored looking messenger asked.Hi stepmother shook her head."No, there's just us and Cinder-boy."The messenger instantly looked alert.

"Cinder-boy?" he asked, "Where's he?"Jun looked taken aback, "Cinder-boy is just a servant!He won't fit the shoe!" she claimed, but the messenger look adamant, "Everyone must try on the shoe," he said firmly.

Yamato slipped into the room, "Here I am," he said, ignoring the glares his presence received.He didn't want to marry the strange Prince he'd never met, but anything was better than what he had now.

Much to the disgust of his family the shoe slipped onto his foot easily, and he was able to work around with the greatest of ease.The messenger looked shocked, "What is your name?" he asked.Yamato smiled, "I am Ishida Yamato," he said proudly.The messenger smiled and bowed, "Congratulations, you will marry the Prince."

~ * ~

Gabumon and Yamato were escorted to the Palace in a horse-drawn carriage, it all happened so quickly that he didn't even have time to be nervous.He had a vague vision of Jun screeching, and of people waving as he drove past, then, he was back at the Palace.This time the Ballroom was bare, he was led through endless hallways until he reached a giant oak door.His escort stopped, and indicate he should do the same.

"His highness' betrothed, Ishida Yamato," the herald announced loudly.Then he was pushed through the doors.He was standing in a huge room, the walls were hung with flags and a red carpet stretched to the throne.Yamato finally glanced up at the throne, prepared to see his future husband for the first time.Instead, he saw the familiar and welcome face of Taichi.

"Y-You're the Prince?" he asked, in complete breach of Palace protocol, but Taichi was smiling at him and nodding."Welcome to my Palace, Yamato" he said.

~ THE END ~

That's the end? But what happened?

Well, Yamato's family were extremely (albeit insincerely) sorry, and of course Yamato was magnanimous enough to forgive them.

Taichi's parents got used to the idea that he was gay, and was going to marry Yamato.(There was no problems with the law cos he's a Prince… and he made homosexual marriages legal, mmkay?)

Takeru and Yamato were reunited, sadly Mrs Takaishi had passed away, but the two brothers became very good friends.

Hakari and Takeru got hitched. Their son, Ryo, eventually inherited the throne.

Despite protestations of eternal love for Hakari, and a fierce rivalry with Takeru for her affections, Daisuke fell in love and married a neighbouring ruler, Ken Ichijouji.

Jun joined the lesbian alliance run by the rich young Duchess Mimi and her partner (in more ways that one) Sora, and eventually hooked up with a pretty young girl called Miyako.It turns out that Jun's obsession with chasing males was an elaborate cover because her mother was extremely homophobic.

Gabumon met Taichi's Digimon, Agumon, and they formed The Mystical Beasts Protection and Exhibition Society with a few fellow Digimon they found lying around.

And what about Yamato and Taichi?They lived happily ever after. ^.^

~ THE END (again) ~

Errr… did I mention that I haven't written Digimon in awhile?* grins disarmingly *And honestly, I love Daisuke!He just sorta became evil… you should be glad that I didn't write some of the stuff I was thinking! Please REVIEW! I adore feedback and could really use it!!Hope ya liked my wee ficcie!

~ Smeegee~


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Digimon, Humor, Romance