The prince and his friend ran far, far away from the house, Later in the day, they stopped at a lake, and the prince began to cry.

“I don’t understand,” the prince weeped. “I thought they would be happy for me. But… Was it so wrong for me to finally be happy with myself?”

“It pains me to see you this way,” his friend said softly to the prince, holding him in his arms. “I will never ever let anyone hurt you ever again. I promise you.”

The prince had lived with his friend for a little while after that day, but everyday was the same. He would stay in bed all day in the daytime, and by night he would sit up in bed and do nothing but sigh here and there. Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night and cry, and his friend grew even more worried as it continued.

He woke up one morning and got the prince out of bed. He noticed that the prince was cold, so he sat him in a chair in the living room close to a fire. He even placed a large blanket over the prince’s shaking body and sat in front of him on the floor.

He asked the prince how he was feeling, hoping that they could talk.

The prince sighed, and said, “I am no prince; I am a disgrace in their eyes, an abomination, a mistake.”

He sighed again and looked up at his friend. “Am I even a prince to you anymore?” he asked him.

It took his friend to think of something to say. “You know what?” his friend said. “What does it matter if you are a prince or a princess? In my eyes, you are something far greater than a prince; you are a warrior.”

His friend smiled. “Yes… a warrior. It suits you perfectly! You’ve fought for what you believed in, despite the consequences that follow later on, that cause you to suffer.” The prince was quiet. A warrior… he began to think. Me, a warrior…?

His friend felt that the prince wasn’t going to say anything else, but the prince got up and hugged him. “Do you really see me as a warrior?” he asked his friend.

He smiled and wrapped his arms around the prince. “Of course I do,” he told him, hugging him tightly. “You went through so much growing up, but you kept on fighting for what you knew was right. You even have battle scars as proof!”

The prince began to feel much better. “A-and also,” his dear friend added, “I believe that a warrior must be rewarded for his accomplishments.”

“Oh?” the prince said. “Do you have a reward for me?”

His friend nodded his head and asked him to cover his eyes. The prince - or in this case, the warrior - closed his eyes and covered them with his hands, growing more and more curious by the second. He had no idea what his friend was going to reward him with.

“Are you ready for your reward?” his friend asked him. When the warrior nodded, he leaned in close and pressed his lips gently against the warrior’s lips.

This was completely unexpected to the warrior, but he very much wanted to kiss his dear friend for quite a long time. He felt this warm, fuzzy feeling inside his chest, and when his friend moved away, the feeling remained.

His friend looked really nervous. “What do you think?” he asked.

The warrior was almost speechless. He couldn’t help but to give a big smile. “It is was amazing!” was all he managed to say before covering his face in embarrassment.

The prince was pleased and very relieved. “I’m glad you like it so much,” he told the warrior, “but… that was not the full reward.”

Now the warrior was confused. “What do you mean?” he asked the man sitting before him. “Do you mean there are more kisses?”

“Well, yes,” the prince admitted. “There will be more kisses, but the full reward is me.” He reached his hand to the warrior. “I offer to you, as your full reward, my hand in marriage.”

Before the warrior could say his answer, someone knocked on the door. He quickly got up and opened the door, and he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was his mother, and the prince’s parents as well.