(The Frog Prince AU. Gendry x fem!reader. Angst, magic, bittersweet fluff. The original story is said to have been written by The Brothers Grimm.)

Many years ago, in a land not too far from our own, a prince disappeared. Of course, no one truly knew he was a prince outside of a few people. The prince was a bastard, born to the king out of wedlock and hidden away from the jealous queen until he was old enough to hide on his own. The prince, who spent most of his life unaware that he was royalty, found company in a band of outlaws. That was where his fate changed. That was where he met a witch.

The witch offered to help him remain hidden forever. Worried for his safety, the prince agreed. He would remain in hiding until the queen was dead. Unfortunately, his father passed first and the queen had gone a rampage trying to find the prince. So the prince accepted the witch's offer, but it came a terrible price that he would be forced to live year after year. Eventually, the queen did die, murdered, but the witch was nowhere to be found. And so the prince was forced to remain hidden in the form the witch had cursed him to. That is where our story begins.

You were enjoying your small amount of solitude when you came across a small pond you'd never seen before. Sitting on a lily pad in the pond was a lone frog. You were content to ignore it at first; it was just a frog after all, but something caught your attention. The frog's eyes were blue. In fact, those eyes looked almost...human. You'd never seen eyes like that on a frog before.

Curious, you got down onto your knees to get a closer look. Your governess would have a field day seeing a princess on the ground like that. The frog didn't move an inch as you leaned in a little closer. Unfortunately, you leaned too far and your hand slipped. You managed to prevent yourself from falling face first into the water, but your most prized possession wasn't that lucky. A golden pocket watch that you kept in your bag or around your neck at all times hit the water before you could even process what was happening.

"No!" you cried, trying to grasp the piece of jewelry before it sank too far. You weren't quick enough and the watch began floating out of sight. Tears welled up in your eyes as you sank back onto your bottom in the mud. That watch had been your grandfather's, the former king of your kingdom. He had gifted it to you when he was ill saying that it would be a gift to be passed down to any sons you had. Now it was gone forever.

A small splash caught your attention. You looked up to find that the frog was no longer on the lily pad. You sniffled. "Great, first my watch and now the frog." You pulled your knees up to your chest and cried, though your tears didn't last long. For it was only a moment later that you heard the water moving again. You glanced up. There, on the muddy bank of the pond, sat the frog. Its blue eyes bore into you as it waited for you to realize that it had rescued your precious treasure. When you finally did, your eyes widened.

"Oh! Oh, thank you!" you cried out, scooping up the frog and watch at the same time. "Oh, you are the most wonderful creature!" You knew the watch would never work again, but it had sentimental value to you. "My dear friend, I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you." You did your best to dry the watch and place it back in your bag while still holding onto the frog in one hand.

"If there is anything you need, my dear frog, I swear you shall have it." You gazed into the frog's eyes as you tried to discern what a frog could possibly need from you. And then? The unexpected happened. "You could take me away from this damned pond to start with. And you could give me information about Queen Cersei."

You blinked in surprise. "D-Did you just...talk?!" The frog rolled its, or rather his, eyes. It was a sight to behold. "I did. Sorry for startling you, Princess. I was cursed by a witch and have been a frog ever since." You stared at him for a moment while your brain tried to catch up to the fact that you were, indeed, carrying on a conversation with a frog.

"I-I suppose I could bring you to my father's castle. You can rest and have all the food you could possibly eat. As for Queen Cersei, I assume you mean the Mad Queen Lion from the neighboring kingdom? She died years ago. There is no official royal on the throne of that kingdom as the king never had any legitimate heirs. There were rumors of prince that was of age when the king died, but he disappeared before he could be legitimized and given the throne."

The frog didn't respond for a moment. Then, you heard him laughing. At least you thought he was laughing. It sounded more like croaking, but what did you know? You'd never met a talking frog before. "I knew the prince," he finally said, "He disappeared because Cersei was hunting him. He was taken in by a group of outlaws and then accepted the help of a sorceress to hide him from Cersei."

You listened as you walked, intrigued by the frog's tale. He spoke to you all the way back the castle. When you entered your home, you were immediately scolded by your governess, who screamed at the sight of the amphibian in your hands. She even tried to take him from you and throw him out, but as luck would have it, your father was passing by and you explained everything to him.

"Very well, the frog shall remain with you. You will make sure he has everything he needs until you repay your debt to him." You gave your father a kiss on the cheek and the frog thanked him. Then you scurried up to your chambers with the frog in hand. After getting him set up quickly, you stepped out of his sight to change out of your muddy clothes.

*time skip*

You spent the next several days getting to know your new friend. After a couple of days, you got the feeling he was hiding something, but never questioned it. He was obviously cursed and it was probably a sore subject for him and you didn't want to pry. However, everything would soon come out.

One evening, as you were readying for bed, your new friend began croaking rather loudly. That was odd since he did have a voice, though it sometimes didn't come through clearly when he was overly amused or excited about something. Other times it was him snoring. You thought that was it until you suddenly felt him hop into your hair. You screamed, not expecting that to happen.

The doors of your chambers burst open and you heard your guards yelling for someone to halt. You peered around your changing screen in time to see someone escaping off the balcony. You reached up and gently plucked the frog from your hair. "You saved me," you whispered. Before the frog could reply, your father's voice boomed from the doorway, "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

Once more, you explained to your father what your friend had done for you. Your father smiled at the frog in your hands. "It seems we are in your debt once more, friend. Whatever you would ask of me, if it is within my power, you shall have it." There was not even a second of pause before the frog turned in your hands to face you and made his request.

"A kiss. That is what I wish." You blinked and nearly dropped him in surprise. "What?" The frog croaked in merriment. "I wish for a kiss. Something that would mean nothing to you but everything to me." You glanced at your father for help, but he merely shrugged. "You are indebted to him, Y/N. If a kiss is his only request, then you must honor it." You glanced down at the frog's blue eyes and nodded. "Very well."

You steeled your nerves and took a deep breath. Closing your eyes, you leaned forward with your lips puckered. It only took a moment for your lips to meet the wet skin of the amphibian and you couldn't wait to pull away. "Oh gods," your father muttered, causing you to open your eyes. Your frog friend was glowing! This time, you did indeed drop him to the floor.

The glow of the light grew brighter and brighter until everyone in the room had to shield their eyes. A few moments later, the light vanished. You looked and your jaw dropped in a very un-princess-like fashion. A tall, muscular man now stood where the frog had been. He smiled at you, his bright blue eyes twinkling with joy. It didn't take a genius to recognize the eyes you'd been staring into for days.

"It's you. Y-You're the missing prince," you said and his grew grin. "I am. Gendry, bastard prince and last remaining heir of King Robert. The story I told you the day we met was my story. I was transformed into a frog by a sorceress to protect me but then she disappeared and I've been stuck as a frog since. Thanks to you, I can return home."

"Will they believe you?" you asked and another voice spoke. "I can assure you that they will." You jumped and Gendry gently pushed you behind him, shielding you from whoever had entered your chambers without permission. It was getting be a bit crowded in there.

"You. Why did you run? You could have turned me back years ago!" The sorceress shook her head. "I could not. That was part of the curse. You could not reveal your true identity and I could not change you back. Only a kiss from a princess could do that." Gendry glanced back at you in surprise, clearly indicating that he'd had no idea.

The sorceress continued, "But now you have returned to your true form and you can assume your father's throne. With the princess by your side, of course." You popped your head from behind Gendry and uttered, "I beg your pardon?!" She smiled at you though there was no warmth in it. "The final part of the spell. The princess who kissed the frog is meant to rule by his side as his queen."

At that, Gendry turned to you and clasped your hands in his. After feeling his skin as a frog, you were surprised to feel that his hands were warm. "You do not have to do this. I will not force you. I shall travel to my kingdom with the sorceress and claim the throne. You may remain here if you wish. I would ask for permission to write to you often, as a friend. Maybe we'll become more one day, but I wouldn't dare force you. Whatever you choose, I will accept it."

He left the room with the guards, the sorceress, and your father. You vaguely heard your father offer Gendry and the sorceress rooms for the night so they would be well rested for travel the next day. Meanwhile you spent the night wracking your brain trying to decide what to do. In the end, you chose to stay. You knew you weren't ready to take on being a queen just yet. Gendry looked heartbroken when you told him, but he smiled anyway.

"Then I'll be happy to call you my friend for now. Take care, Princess." He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss to your cheek before turning away and heading down to the horse that waited for him. You ran as quickly as you could up to your balcony. As he began riding away, Gendry looked back at you and waved. You blew him a kiss. Then, you waved until his horse was out of sight, knowing one day, you would see him again.