Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Foolish wasn't trained for this lifestyle. He was never meant to be given the throne, never meant to be crowned, never meant to be seen as a figurehead of any kind.

He grew up with a love for arts rather than fighting. Music, language, dancing, and painting, he enjoyed creative expression.

That's not to say he was allowed to do those things though. The number of times a new instrument of his had been smashed against his floor or torn apart by his father was far too many to count.

The scraps collected dust in the back of his closet until the door became a dreadful reminder of his place in the world.

He still loved his parents and respected them no matter how much their actions hurt him.

He had siblings too, four to be exact.

His misguided youngest sibling was his brother Quackity. He cared more about making people laugh than being a Prince. He skipped out on his schooling quite often to make a fool of himself in the commoner town outside of the walls.

Their parents had much more pressing things to worry about than keeping the boy in line though, as they were growing older and had to prepare their heir for his time.

Foolish’s perfect older brother, Cellbit, was ruthless. He trained every day, even when he was told to give it a rest. He was a warrior with a short temper, always wanting to pick fights with someone.

He’d sparred with almost everyone in the kingdom at least once and continued to do so until no one wanted to step into The Colosseum with him anymore.

When the King caught wind of this, he brought Foolish there himself.

It was unfair for his older brother who spent every second of every day preparing for a battle that was never coming to suddenly fight the boy who had never even picked up a weapon before.

Yet, despite the odds being against him, Foolish won every fight against his older brother.

Word of the boy’s successful first sparring session spread quickly across the kingdoms, and a generous crowd gathered in The Colosseum to watch.

Frustration and anger festered in the older boy’s skin like an open wound. It was an insane bout of jealousy that looked quite ugly on the young royal.

When he threw a fit over losing so many in a row, the crowd pointed and laughed.

He raged, accusing his brother of cheating to make him look bad, and ran out of the arena.

Reports of his childish outburst eventually made it back to the King, and his brother, for the first time in his life, had been scolded for it.

Foolish from then on was forced to spar regularly, and Cellbit was forced to study.

On the day of their youngest sister’s birthday, the Rusty Bones kingdom held an extravagant celebration for her.

Princess Tina was quite spoiled, she was arguably one of the favourites out of their siblings, and she grew up quite pampered. Her needs and wants were catered to more often than not.

She was the exact opposite of their other sister, Miyoung, who had been anointed the title “head of agriculture” after expressing her distaste for royal duties.

Even at their sister’s celebration, she opted to stay on her farm by the kingdom walls.

It was also at the party that Foolish had stumbled upon his older brother flirting with a commoner from another kingdom who worked on ships in foreign ports.

He stayed silent though, and chose to pretend like he never saw anything.

For the next few months, Prince Cellbit had been going to The Colosseum less, opting to spend more time in his bedchambers or at the docks.

Once after a long day of sparring, and the night before Cellbit’s coronation, Foolish showed up at his older brother’s door to see him packing a bag full of clothes.

He looked at his younger brother with a face plagued with guilt. He stuttered out the beginnings of a lie, which Foolish shooed off.

He confessed to what he saw at their sister’s party and that he suspected it was the reason for his acting so strange.

Cellbit admitted that he was engaged to the sailor and that he wanted nothing more in the world than to run away and get married to him overseas.

Foolish promised to keep his brother’s secret, not telling even his siblings.

The next morning they all woke up to the sounds of their mother shrieking over the loss of her firstborn.

He left a note for their Father that was burned in the fireplace before anyone else could read it.

Cellbit was permanently banished from the Kingdom. Utterances of him or his name were punishable with jail time and he became a blemish of the Kingdom’s past faster than he had become its first-loved royal child.

Shortly after, they found that their mother’s grief had overcome her.

The Queen of Rusty Bones had become incredibly sick, and the royal doctors found that she was “dying from her broken heart”.

That's what they told the townspeople anyway.

It was a lot kinder than “someone outside of the kingdom sold her poison, which she took willingly out of her own sorrow”.

When the King found the man who sold her the poison, he was imprisoned for an indefinite amount of time.

They spent days watching her slowly grow sicker and sicker until she finally withered away.

The King could no longer stand looking at Foolish, as he looked the most like his mother.

Having such a reminder made him reckless. Late one night the King burned his first son’s face out of the family portrait, then his wife’s, then his own.

It was as if he didn't want anyone to see the scattered fragments of his family.

On the day of the Queen’s funeral, another kingdom declared war on Rusty Bones.

The King was furious, so much so that he put himself on the front lines.

Rusty Bones won many a battle against the opposing Kingdom, and it was here that Foolish found himself truly afraid for the first time.

He had felt fear before, but this was a fear unlike any he’d ever experienced.

It was a fear of feelings.

Because everywhere he looked were people feeling to their demise.

His brother, so in love that he changed the course of his life forever, abandoning his family to become a stowaway and elope.

His mother, so overcome with grief that she took to extreme measures, leaving the rest of her children without so much as a second thought.

His father, so enraged at his own heartbreak that he became a bloodthirsty drunkard, laying his life and kingly duties behind to bludgeon his enemies rather than facing his problems.

One fateful night was all it took to change the Kingdom’s history forever. Rusty Bones had finally lost their first battle in the war, and the first drop of blood to hit the soil under them was that of the King.

Suddenly, as the eldest child in the kingdom, as the boy who wanted to become a pianist, Foolish was forced to learn the brutal face of responsibility and anguish.

His coronation was less than joyful on his end, even if the noblemen in his castle were partying with smiles on their faces and trying to get him to join in on their festivities.

He was now crowned as the King of Rusty Bones, and he knew his lack of training was going to immediately be evident.

Chapter Text

Being here is still just as difficult now as it was however many months ago I was coronated.

The throne was mine, but despite popular belief, it was much more than a pretty chair to sit on.

Responsibilities of all kinds came into my throne room. Ideas and suggestions were brought to my meeting room.

Delegation of power and control was something that took me weeks to understand.

If it weren't for my right-hand man Boulder and my father's advisor June I think I'd somehow be even more lost.

I think that approaching this new role in my life with compassion and a certain level of kindness has made it easy for people to immediately warm up to me being King though.

Or maybe it's just because I'm much more busy now that I can't stumble upon common folk secretly planning to overthrow me like they did with my father.

Either way, I spend all of my mornings approving new subjects of the kingdom, trying to strike peace treaties with the other kingdoms on this land, and solving disputes between Rusty Bones residents.

The days are long, the nights are short. Even in my sleep, I get visions of terrible things.

Boulder said once they were probably from stress.

Thankfully, since the old king had fallen victim to battle, the other kingdoms seemed less interested in trying to fight us. Not all of them, as the Kingdom of Thorn Ridge was still very persistent in their attacks, but most had seen the situation and taken sympathy.

At least, that's the declaration that was given to me by messengers sent from the other realms.

I was grateful to have declared peace between my kingdom and two of the others who shared this land.

Despite all the responsibility that I'd been given since my first day as King, today felt awfully quiet.

I had enough time to oversee the plans for the construction of new borders and draft up an alliance proposition to the Underworld Kingdom before I found June rushing through the doors of my study.

“Forgive me, My Lord, there are people here to see you.” he bowed formally and cleared his throat a bit.

“Who?” I mumbled as I smacked the papers on my desk to line them up.

“One is a representative from the village up northeast, one of the artists.” he started, standing up straight again. “The other is a messenger from the Kingdom of Thorn Ridge.”

“So a neutral party and an enemy are waiting outside my castle walls?” I asked for confirmation as I soothed the immediate wrinkles that formed between my brows.

“Well, yes, your Majesty.” he verified, folding his hands behind his back as he waited for my next move.

I took a moment to breathe, sliding my papers into a locked drawer of my desk, and then I made my way to the throne room. I made myself look presentable and sat on the tall and over-the-top chair.

“Bring them in.” I beckoned with my hand. My right hand turned on his heel and began walking to the exit. “Oh, and June?” I called for him to stop, which he did.

“One at a time please.” I sighed, not forgetting when he let in two opposing parties who wanted to separately make temporary peace treaties at the same time. It was a nightmare of an argument and an even worse migraine.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” he nodded in my direction and continued out the castle doors.

The first one he let in stood at the other end of my throne and took a knee.

“Good evening, King Foolish.” he droned on like everyone else that greeted me.

“State your business.” I ordered, watching him stand up straight and stare into my soul.

“I’m here on behalf of the artists of the Village. Our people are a neutral party, but the sheriff of our small community has grown bloodthirsty, terrorizing the Village and joining in on battles alongside the enemy of your Kingdom.” he gave me information that he probably didn't know was quite helpful for us, but I'd take it anyway.

“So then what brings you to the doors of Rusty Bones?” I was hoping he'd satiate my curiosity with something good.

“We were hoping you would be able to help us overpower the Sheriff and let us take refuge within your Kingdom’s walls. We need escorts, as we fear for our safety and are peacekeepers of the land.” he watched my every move with hopeful eyes.

I wanted to agree right then and there, but I would rather not chance having my vision clouded by my own need to create.

“I'll have to speak with my advisor, but rest assured I wouldn't mind helping you out.” I noted. “If you could give me a moment to discuss with Sir June so I could have your answer.” I hummed, watching as he clasped his hands together at his heart and bowed his head before walking a bit farther away to give us privacy.

“Sir June,” I beckoned him to my side.

“Yes, Your Majesty?” he murmured.

“What do we think of letting the artisans in our Kingdom?” I mumbled the proposition to him.

“I'm not sure, they were pretty adamant on staying neutral last time we had troops in the Village. Couldn't they just rebuild a new one somewhere else?” he conjured up a good point.

I thought for a moment, I knew the decision ultimately came down on me at the end of the day anyway, but it was my job to govern and lead my people.

I couldn't just let random people in and have them destroy our already deteriorating equilibrium.

“If he can provide sound reasoning we will prepare our men for a raid on the Village, avenge our new residents by taking down the sheriff, and escort them to their new home.” I let out a satisfied breath.

“Yes but,” June started, clearly debating if he should even continue whatever question was on his tongue. “What would your father think, letting in such neutral forces? Artists nonetheless.” he even looked unsure of his question.

I got it a lot though, I asked myself that a lot too.

What would my father think about what I'm doing right now?

“Respectfully, if my father wanted to continue ruling his Kingdom he would have let his commanding officer lead the charge.” I huffed, straightening out my waistcoat.

There was no room for dwelling on the past, the blood stains on the crown, and how painful it continued being alive in a world that flipped so quickly in such few months.

“Bring the artist back so I can finally address the enemy in our walls.” I huffed the mild irritation out of my voice and sent June on his way.

When the artist returned to the other end of my throne he looked at me with hopeful eyes.

“I have a question for you,” I started, making sure not to stammer or stumble on my words. “Why would the artisans want to align themselves with Rusty Bones when they could start a new village somewhere else?” I hummed.

“Well, we thought about it, but we realized there was a possibility that our new village would be raided by other aggressive neutral forces or we could be pillaged by other kingdoms. We’re artists, not fighters.” he began to sway shyly.

I nodded as I quickly thought of the answer he gave me. It made sense, to want protection from a kingdom, though I wasn't sure why they would want to join a kingdom that was currently in an active war.

And not only that but on the losing side as well. Ever since Father died we’ve lost every battle we’ve encountered.

“Okay, we will send a group of our finest fighters and help you all get to the kingdom safely.” I officially accepted his request. “I will personally join them to make sure they don't get out of hand.” I added.

There was a recent influx of kingdom members, and some of them I knew were a bit blood-hungry. I imagine a few of those would want to be in a possible battle, even if we were only planning on fighting one guy.

I dismissed the artist after hearing his thankful praise and let him go on his stealthy journey back to the village one last time.

I asked June to bring in the other person finally and watched them bow to the foot of my thrown.

“Good evening, your Highness.” they greeted.

“State your business.” I impatiently tapped my finger on the arm of my throne chair.

“There has been a call for a conclave at sundown. I was sent to tell you that they require a royal or representative of the Rusty Bones Kingdom to be there.” they stated blankly.

“And where will this ‘conclave’ be held?” I couldn't help but feel skeptical about this.

“At the centermost point of the land, between all the kingdoms. I just came from the Kingdom of Thorn Ridge to tell them as well.” he explained.

I thanked the messenger for the invitation, no matter how much I hated it, and dismissed everyone from the throne room.

So much for a quiet day.

Upon our arrival to the village, we found the artists hiding away in their Art Gallery, as they were the only ones that knew we were coming.

“Find the Sheriff’s office and drag him out of it.” I ordered my men, letting my trusty General take charge from there.

We set fire to the office to lure the man out and before I knew it gunshots were firing.

I had to stop a few other people from wandering into the art gallery, as their bloodlust made them immediately forget the reason we were there in the first place.

We weren't sure when, but the Sheriff ended up calling for backup, which became a bit more of a battle than originally anticipated.

As I made my way to the front of the Gallery, hoping to ease the distress of the artists who didn't want to see the face of war, a stray shot caught me square in the shoulder.

I shouted obscenities that Father would've had my head for, but the pain was immeasurable to any that I'd felt before.

In all my training I'd never even gotten knicked by a bullet.

I immediately clasped my wound though, asking the artists from their upstairs hiding if they could drop me a bandage out the window.

I'd already gone through a few on the way here, triggering a few traps or rolling my ankle one.

When one dropped to me I quickly wrapped my shoulder as tight as the bandage would stretch.

“Men, there are enemies coming from behind!” I shouted to them, pointing them in the direction of the Church.

My commanding officer shouted the call again over the men, though correcting me without a comment and saying they were coming from the east.

“We got what we came here for! We can retreat!” I ordered again, letting Trausi echo my words again as I gathered the artists outside.

It took a few tries to get through to the men and round them up as well, starting our journey back to the kingdom.

So far, the conclave was just as boring yet overstimulating as I had assumed it would be.

There was so much happening, everyone yelling at each other like they'd never heard of civil conversation.

It was the least professional I'd seen most of them.

If I was honest with myself I had no idea what the hell we were all apparently agreeing to in there.

I had nothing to talk about, nothing to add to the conversation, nothing to negotiate either really.

I was in the middle of a war with the guy sitting directly across from me at the table, but if you were to look at him you’d think our status was something entirely different.

I ignored him though, to the best of my ability really, and tried my best to tune back into the shouting match.

Just as I started making out the words they were doing final agreements on things. They stood up and shared handshakes at the center of the table.

I obviously joined in, realizing I was still a bit more of a sheep than the shepherd I was supposed to be.

Before everyone could properly disperse, the man across the table darted across the room. “King Foolish, I need to speak with you for a moment.” he spoke quite theatrically as he got to my side.

“Sir Mendo, please, not here.” I said as politely as I could, not missing how the room of royals quickly turned into an audience of nosey people.

“If you could make me the happiest man alive,” he began rummaging through his coat pockets for a familiar small black box.

“Mendo, I mean it, not here.” I muttered, much more stern than before.

“King Foolish, if you would have me, our marriage could mend the war between our kingdoms. It could save countless lives.” he dropped down on one knee and flashed off a ring that was custom-made.

I'd seen that shitty piece of junk far too many times since the war was originally declared; I highly doubted it would be the last time either.

But it wasn't even the ring this time that felt like the proper thorn in my side.

“Mend the war? Save lives?” I could feel the anger of the past few months bubble inside my chest. “Your men killed my father, Mendo. It's too late for that.” I scoffed.

I couldn't believe his word choice this time, I genuinely felt like I made it up. I had to have made it up, there was no way it could've been real.

“Get out of my face.” I waved him off with disgust, only turning to leave when he got up and brushed it off.

I'm definitely sure he’ll go back to the drawing board after that, though I hope he just forgets about me altogether.

The only time we ever interacted before this whole proposal fiasco was at my sister’s birthday celebration, where I spoke to him for all of thirty seconds and then rejected him when he asked for a dance.

I flattened the wrinkles out of my clothes and left the meeting building.

It was already nighttime, and the tall grass that I had to walk through was pretty tough to navigate without a light leading the way.

I had a torch at some point, but it stopped catching light at some point, which was like the whole point of the damn thing in the first place.

When I stopped to toss the hunk of junk, I felt the end of a barrel press against my temple.

“¿Qué idioma hablas?” a strange man grumbled behind me.

My brain short-circuited, I'd never been in a situation where my language studies were helpful.

It had been years since I practiced though, so any fluency I had was probably as good as gone anyway.

“Inglés,” I tried to stay calm. I didn't want to aggravate whoever it was that had my life in their hands.

The man hummed for a second before huffing out a short exhale.

“Are you from Rusty Bones?” he hushed again, using the cover of night to his advantage.

“Yes,” I confirmed proudly, which was hard to do after everything that had happened.

A big part of me felt embarrassed in my Kingdom, I mean, it failed me more than once and then I failed it.

I was actively failing it by getting mugged or whatever was going on.

“Perfecto, vienes conmigo.” he moved the tommy gun to the center of my lower spine and used it to push me forward.

Once again, I was proving my own point.

Chapter Text

I was like eighty percent sure I ended up being walked near my kingdom, just barely outside the walls. We were in a small town that I’d never seen before.

On the journey there I'd seen a few people riding past on horses or in cars, yet none of them recognized me or the mysterious man behind me. Not a single one stopped to check in on me.

It was a silent walk too, which was quite awkward and unsettling.

I'm sure we had the language barrier to thank for that though, or at least I hoped.

Either way, when we got to the town I was handcuffed, searched for weapons which I didn't have on me, and thrown into a prison cell.

I didn't really mind though, as I could barely keep my eyes open from the sheer amount of drowsiness that plagued me.

I didn't care if the entire town was peering through that small door window, I immediately curled up on the thatch flooring and fell asleep.

I didn't have much to steal on my person anyway, as most of it was being kept in my password-protected chests in the castle.

If they really wanted they could take my flashlight and the cooked boar meat Boulder prepared me for my journey.

Thankfully for me though, they left me alone…

…until morning.

I woke up sopping wet and cold just as the morning sun was coming up.

A man, who I assumed was the one that put me in here, was standing in the doorway holding a now empty bucket.

“Levántate,” his voice was just as emotionless as it was last night, though I guess it had to be if you were kidnapping someone.

I struggled my way to my feet, assuming that’s what he meant as I couldn't translate it mentally for the life of me.

“Sigueme.” he stepped out of the doorway again and motioned with his head.

I followed him away from the cells and to a new building. Now that I could see better, I found that this town that I was in looked even less familiar to me than before.

I’ve never seen this place, I don't even think I've ever walked by it either.

The inside of the building looked like a regular peasant farm shed with tools on shelves and bags of dirt on the floor.

It was strange though, when we were walking here I didn't really see any farmland outside for these to be used.

It was also in this tool shed thing that I got a better look at the man who dragged me here.

His face was covered by a hood made from the head of a wolf, it did well at masking his identity, and his clothes were rugged yet clean. He was around my height, maybe a little shorter, and his hands were strong.

He looked like one of the people I would've sparred with in the Colosseum back when…

“¿Entiendes español?” he asked sternly.

I stared at him for a moment in mild confusion. “Un poco,” I hummed softly.

The chill of early morning on my sopping wet clothes made my brain feel like it had a spike going through it.

The man mumbled something under his breath, scratching his stubble and looking me over again.

Drops of water splashed from my hair onto the dirty floor.

“Ok, I'll tell you why you are here.” his accent was quite thick, but the fact that he was trying was nice. “My town is being starved because your kingdom.” he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Starved? How?” I asked, trying my best to hide the frustration such a sentence would bring me.

It wasn't that I didn't believe the man, but it was that I did believe him. I absolutely believe my father would do something like this and discard the people he was affecting.

“The-” he paused for a second trying to figure out what word he was thinking of. “Basura, at the top of the hill.” he pointed upward toward my kingdom.

“When the rain comes, the basura kills the farm. Our food is poison.” he moved his fingers to show water flowing down the hill.

“Our trash is killing your farms?” I felt a little sick at the idea of this happening and not knowing about it.

A big part of me wondered if my father knew about it and just turned them away because he didn’t understand. It was highly likely, considering some of the other messes I've had to clean up before.

“Sí, I said to your king before but he kicked me out,” he grumbled.

His words clawed at the back of my head, it felt like they pierced through my temples, and honestly, I wish they somehow did.

“I'm so sorry, lo siento.” I droned, trying not to show too much of a frown. “I promise, I can make this right.”

I couldn't see his facial expression but he stared at me in silence for a moment.

“Good, I will let you go and you tell your king.” he stated and then reached for the restraints.

“Wait!” I pinned myself to the shelf behind me, shying the cuffs away from the man. “Espera, I have to take a look around to make a plan.” I came up with anything I could, though I realized afterward that it would be helpful.

But upon replaying his words in my head I noticed something odd.

“Did you say tell my king?” I was so confused that I stopped resisting.

“Sí, why?” he also seemed confused now. Glad we were in the same boat at least, and though it felt like a dumb idea, I trusted this guy enough already to just come clean.

I don't really like lying anyway.

“Never mind, sorry.” I shook my head at the idea as quickly as it came to me.

It wasn't lying if I didn't say anything.

He hummed at me in thought for a moment and grabbed my shoulder, which caused me to wince in pain at the reminder of my wound from the “save the artists” mission the day before.

His hand jolted back and he took me outside of the tool shed by my elbow. He stared at me for a moment, sad and sopping wet, and then grunted in some kind of annoyance.

Maybe he wasn't a fan of how pathetic I looked, especially considering I just tried to convince him to keep me here for a bit like a sad stay dog.

“Sigueme,” he huffed, walking off in the direction of all the buildings again.

I recognized the word from before and followed closely behind.

“¿Cómo te llamas?” he asked as we stepped.

Everything was happening so quickly I couldn't sit and think for a single second unless I was translating something.

“Foolish,” I stated firmly.

He stopped in his tracks to look at me, I imagined in more confusion.

“Foolich, es una palabra, ¿no?” he sounded like he was talking to someone with ten heads.

“Sí,” I laughed a little, which thankfully cut the tension in this dewy morning air nicely.

I didn't know this guy, I couldn't recognize where I was for the life of me, but I was still the same old Foolish at the end of the day. Just as charismatic and kind as always, so all I had to do to survive this was be friendly.

Hopefully.

“Tus padres deben haberte odiado,” he puffed out a small laugh and turned back around. My knowledge of Spanish was too elementary for me to understand what he said beyond being able to break up the words, but I returned the sentiment with a smile he couldn't even see.

The front door of one of the houses flew open just as we passed it, and out came a smaller child with the brightest smile on their face.

They were on the skinny side, almost sickly in a way, but it didn't seem to bother them as they bolted to the man who was holding me captive.

“¡Papá!” she quickly attached themselves to his pants leg. He scooped the child up into his arms and began scolding them a little, or at least that's what I assumed by his stern yet kind tone.

They had long black hair and strikingly blueish-purple eyes. Their clothes were just as tattered yet pristine as their father’s.

The child looked me over for a second and immediately asked their father who I was.

“Es un hombre del Rusty Bones. Él nos va a ayudar.” he explained, patting their head and putting them down. He shooed the kid off, but before they went those piercing purple irises bore holes into mine.

“Si le haces daño a mi padre, te arrancaré el pelo.” they looked at me as if trying to intimidate me, which was hard considering they were more adorable than anything.

He pushed them back to the door and sent an awkward laugh in my direction.

“You don't understand much Spanish, yes?” he scratched the back of his neck.

“Un poco, not much anymore.” I offered him.

He looked around for a moment before grunting at a thought that passed.

“Sigueme,” he said again. At least I learned what that meant.

He led me to the house that his kid came from and let me inside.

He showed me around the kitchen, clarifying that the only food he had in there was from foraging by the bottom of the river.

He explained that there was never enough for the whole town that way and that he spent many a night not eating so his child could.

“I imagine you all don't want to leave the town, right?” I asked him, to which he just shook his head no.

“I think the damage to your farm is too far gone, it can't be undone. But I could probably talk to my sister and figure something out.” I was strategizing out loud, I didn't need him to understand that part, but his child chimed in from around the corner with some sort of translation.

He nodded for a second and then tilted his head in maybe confusion. It was hard to understand his body language when I couldn't see what his face looked like.

He crossed his arms over his chest and pointed at me.

“¿Quién eres? Who are you actually?” he asked sounding oddly accusatory.

“I'm Foolish, I'm the King of Rusty Bones.” I admitted finally. I don't know why but it felt like a weight was lifted off of my chest.

He stood still for a moment, really looking at me.

In one quick movement, he pulled the wolf's head off of his face and set it aside. It was like he needed to get a proper look at me.

The man, who was no longer just a kidnapper undercover, scared me a bit.

It wasn't because ghoulish or dangerous-looking, quite the opposite in fact.

This guy was beautiful. I could see where the little one got those soul-piercing eyes, and he had raven black hair with silver streaks.

Whether they were from stress or old age didn't really matter, it suited him all the same.

He had a scar on his cheek and a good patch of stubble that was shaped like fresh sprouts of a full beard.

It didn't help when he grabbed my chin to look at me, one of his sturdy brows raised in curiosity as he turned my head.

“You're young for a king, no?” he didn't seem to believe me and my claims, which honestly sometimes I didn't either.

“Yes, but my parents passed away a few months ago.” I swallowed as I looked to the floor.

If my gaze could burn holes this whole house would be on fire. My heart was pounding in my ears, I desperately wanted to run out of this town and find my way back to the castle.

I'd lock myself away in my bedchambers and hide under my desk if I had to.

“I thought the other boy was taking over?” he took his hand back and reached for his hood.

“He ran away with his lover.” I swallowed the sick feeling that was rising from my stomach.

If anything I'd blame it on the gunshot wound, I couldn't have this guy believing I was nauseous because I thought he was pretty.

It wasn't technically the reason anyway, since I was more afraid of the idea that I found him pretty.

That kind of crap is what forced me to be King in the first place.

“¿Estás bien? Pareces enfermo.” he asked as he hid his identity again.

“Do you have bandages?” I asked, pretending to use one in case he didn't understand me.

He hummed and pulled one out, handing it over to me silently. I looked at him awkwardly, as I'd still been handcuffed from the night before.

He nodded and reached into his pockets for a key to release me.

I felt my brain short-circuit when his hand lingered.

I couldn't tell if this guy was flirting with me or if the world was moving in slow motion because I couldn't breathe.

“Is there somewhere I could do this in private?” I asked, squeezing the gauze in my freshly freed fist.

“No quiero que husmees.” he shook his head. I didn't know what he said so I was glad he gave me a visual as well.

“I'll do it when I get home then.” I nervously chuckled.

He frowned. “No tienes que esperar.” the man offered.

“It's okay, I don't need to do it now.” I tried to wave it off but he explained that he wouldn't want me to leave this kidnapping worse for wear, especially not now that he knew I was the king.

“Oh, okay,” I was scared of looking like a big idiot. I was just terrified honestly, the whole situation made me want to crawl out of my skin and hide in a den.

I turned away from him and the corner his child was hiding behind, unbuttoning my top as fast as I could to release my injured shoulder.

I probably had to change the bandage for this thing anyway, when I had Boulder patch me up yesterday I was still bleeding a bit.

Thankfully we found the bullet came out of the other side so there wasn't any shrapnel that I'd need taken out of me.

The bandage I had on already was a bit bloody, which worked in my favour for once.

“¿Necesitas ayuda?” he asked, reaching his hand to me.

I politely declined and just did it on my own, tying off the new bandage after wrapping myself back up.

I expressed my gratitude to him and reassured them that I would do my best to find a solution to their problem.

When the man offered to escort me back I turned him down suspiciously fast, just letting myself out and scrambling out of the town.

“Where have you been?” Tina stamped her foot on the floor as I handed the reins of the horse off to Boulder. I found it saddled up in the middle of a field and used it to get back home.

“I was busy,” I grumbled as I moved past her and into the castle.

“Where do you think you're going? I was talking to you, asshole!” she shouted, making a scene in front of everyone walking nearby.

“Then walk with me.” I sent her a tired and possibly rude look, though it was mostly from the frustration of my day so far that was seeping into the conversation.

She scoffed and followed me as I made my way to the study.

I rummaged through the papers that my father left behind for any hopes of finding documentation on the town or the trash disposal site.

“Are you going to tell me where you've been all night?” she asked, upset at my silence. “We were worried when you didn't come home.”

I found a paper that was written in Spanish at the bottom of the last drawer and I pulled it out.

“I got kidnapped after the covert, it's whatever. You guys never care where I am any other day, what about last night was so different?” I closed the drawer and unfolded the paper fully.

“Brother, it was your birthday.” she reminded me with a crooked smile.

“I'm too busy for birthdays, Tina.” I explained, soothing the pressure that was building up in my temple.

Her look of whatever anger she was holding onto dissipated into the air. She placed her hands on her hips and leaned onto one leg.

“I know you're king now, but I miss my big brother.” she frowned.

“I miss him too,” I grumbled, thinking about how he was probably living the life I wanted to live.

I used to be much angrier with him for making us switch fates over a man, but today made me rethink everything.

“Not him, dummy. You. I miss you being around to play and I miss Dad taking us to the Colosseum.” she pouted.

“Tina, you miss going outside the castle walls. You should do it sometime.” I shooed the idea off. Her being so sentimental was uncommon, I didn't have much of a reason to believe her.

“No I really do mean it, Foolish. I miss spending time with you. You're never around to hang out with.” she stepped forward and dropped her hands down to fidget with her skirt.

Suddenly someone burst through the door.

June looked worse for wear and was panting like he'd just run up here.

“King Foolish, Thorn Ridge mercenaries are at the gates, they’re already attacking some of the guards.” he gasped for air.

I slipped the paper into the top of a drawer and stood again.

Tina looked at me with a half smile, as if trying to encourage both of us.

“I promise I'll try and make time for you one of these days.” I smiled and patted her shoulder as I rushed out of the room with my advisor.

When I tried to go back to bed I slipped my hand under my chin, remembering the ghost of calloused fingers. That total stranger just split my brain into sections and planted seeds of confusion between them.

Even though we lost so many supplies and more men to the guys that the kingdom of Thorn Ridge paid off, all I could think of were those purple eyes in that shabby house.

I sat up, escaping my room to go back to the study. I needed to try and read that letter.

I closed the door quietly behind me and slipped into my desk chair.

The door creaked a bit as it opened, but I managed to slip my hand in and grab the paper I needed before it was able to get too loud.

I scanned through the letter, only able to pick up a couple of words maybe every other sentence. I could tell it was mentioning the trash pile and something about farm animals dying.

It also mentioned something about blocking the fish, which I assumed my father did something to block the ports.

It was all in all unhelpful, but I was glad that I understood more of the situation now.

I immediately started thinking of a way to talk to Princess Miyoung about her farm and trying to find a way to expand it if necessary.

I couldn't let that man and his child die, his neighbors didn't deserve to be starved out of their homes like that either.

I slipped the letter back where it came from and left the study, still mentally broken apart from interacting with that stranger.

I let my mind shut off for a bit, my body carried me down the stairs and to the throne room.

Soon I found myself sitting on the piano bench in front of the decorative grand piano.

It played music, probably out of tune after all these years, but it could. The only reason it collected dust was because it was used more like a glorified house plant than an instrument of beauty.

I cracked my knuckles and reached my hands over the keys. They hovered hesitantly for a bit, itching to play but worried about the pain that wouldn't come.

My father was gone. He couldn't break my things anymore. He couldn't bother me anymore.

I am the King now.

And he can't take that from me.

My fingers pressed down, and suddenly I was playing music again like nothing had changed in thirteen years.

I thought of the pain of loss, I thought of the anger of life as it was, and I thought of the way my heart pounded for that townsman.

And I thought of the fear that came with each of those.

I thought until the only the only thing filling my head was the notes in the music I played.

Chapter Text

“Miyoung, please, if I could just have a second to talk with you,” I huffed, following her through fields of manure and crops.

She wasn’t usually so stubborn, but something must have shaken her up a bit more than usual recently.

“Look, Foolish, I know you're the king and all now, but that doesn't mean you're entitled to my time.” she snapped at me as she stomped to her rainwater collector.

“Well, it does, actually, but I'm not here to demand you around; I'm here to ask about your farm.” I pressed my hand on her shoulder with the hopes of calming her down a bit.

“You know I wouldn't bother you if I didn't think it was important.” I reminded her, taking my hand back immediately.

“How important?” her voice was a bit gruff.

“Dad left a bunch of disasters behind him before he died, I've been so stressed out trying to fix it all but there's always someone joining the team or in the middle of a feud with another member.”

She stopped me for a moment before I could ramble any further. “What did you come here for?” she crossed her arms over her chest and sent me a deadpan look of thinly veiled annoyance.

“How much of the kingdom is fed by your crops?” I queried, looking down at the freshly watered sprouts.

“All the fully grown ones are separated to just about everyone within the walls, I keep the scraps to pass around to the people living in the outposts and by the dock.” she answered, seemingly happy that I was actually talking about the farm.

I know her worst nightmare is me making her be a diplomat or mediator of some kind.

“Would there be a way that we could also use the extras to feed a small town?” I proposed the idea as casually as I could. “We can expand it and get you more farm hands if you need,” I offered.

She looked at me confused for a moment. The morning sun was beaming down on us, though she seemed unfazed by it.

“What town?” she hummed curiously.

“Come with me, it'll be easier to show you.” I convinced her to join me on the journey to the trash cliff.

My brothers used to throw things into the pile of junk just to watch and wait for it to fall apart.

Now looking at it I understood why it never did.

Most of it was metal parts that couldn't be broken down into scraps or tacks. Some of it was used fuel tanks and other things that would definitely blow up if it had too much of a pressure change.

They were all rusted together into a good conglomerate of god only knows what. I wouldn't be surprised if there were things from the radioactive bunkers somewhere in there too.

“Do you see those buildings down there?” I pointed past the pile and the wall to the Town where I'd been held captive.

She acknowledged me with a nod. “What about them?”

“This pile of crap that Dad desperately needed to put here has been spilling poison into their farms for years every time it rains.” I crossed my arms and looked at her, hoping she shared my disbelief.

Her face soured as she looked over the sight in front of her again.

“Why didn't they come and ask Dad to move it?” she took a deep breath in.

“That's the thing, they did come to ask him for help, I even saw a written letter about it in his desk.” I scoffed. “But the town is full of Spanish-speaking people, I'm pretty sure he turned them away because he didn't understand what they were saying.“

Miyoung hummed in understanding. I could see the pieces of the puzzle sliding into place in her head.

“So they reached out to the king again?” she looked at me a bit curiously.

I just nodded back with a smile. It wasn't technically a lie, the man did talk to me.

“How'd they get into the gates? Only one of us besides you speaks Spanish here and she's been sick for weeks.” she poked a finger into my shoulder suspiciously.

“Well, it doesn't matter. What matters is that we help them.” I waved her accusatory tone away. “They looked like they were dying over there. That dirt is basically sand.”

Her entire aura felt oddly judgemental and negative.

“You're acting oddly strange, feels like deja vu.” she bit her cheek and quirked an eyebrow up.

“I'm not like-” I paused before I could even let his name fall from my tongue. “Don't ever compare him and I. These are entirely different situations. I'm trying, which is more than he could ever say.” I swallowed the guilt that threatened to claw out of my face.

“I didn't say a name.”

“You know you didn't have to! Now, can you help me or not?” I huffed out a frustrated breath and let my hands dramatically fall to my sides.

“Yes, I can help you.” she relieved the stress that was building on my shoulders. “But you can't lie to me about anything after this.” she added a quick ultimatum.

“That's perfect, I hate lying anyway.” I agreed and pulled her in for a hug. “Thank you.”

“I do need someone to bring the food down there as well, I assume you won't mind?” I mumbled to her.

“Fine, but you're coming with me on the first day.” she grumbled.

After working out a time frame of when the extra crops would be ready I took what was usually my portion and slipped away from the kingdom to the town.

I had a cloak on to hide my face and the basket of goods from passersby, hastily walking past the sign outside the town that said “¡Bienvenido al Pueblo de Toros!”

To my surprise, and quite conveniently, the man I was looking for was on his way out of the town with his child on his hip.

The streaks of silver in his salt-and-pepper hair shimmered nicely, his smile was bright, and he looked sweet yet rugged, just too good to be true.

When I realized what I was thinking, I snapped myself back to my senses. I felt mortified honestly, why on earth did any of that even cross my mind?

“Disculpe,” I stopped him as we caught up with each other, reaching a hand out to his shoulder to stop him.

He looked at me confused, shielding his young from the possible stranger and putting a hand on his holster.

“Necesito hablar contigo,” I pulled the hood out from over my face a bit so he could see me.

“Foolish?” he whispered in sudden shock, pulling the hood back over my face and looking around to make sure no one saw me. He grabbed my arm and took me back into the town.

We started speedwalking between townspeople who were going about in their normal lives. We rushed into his house before anyone could stop him and ask about me.

As soon as the door closed he turned to me with a sense of urgency.

“¿Qué haces aquí?” he tried to sound casual and pulled my hood off again.

“I have news about the food.” I hummed, pulling the basket of produce out from its hiding and putting it on the table.

He mumbled something in even more shock.

He put his child on the floor and she stretched on her toes to look at the food.

“My sister runs the kingdom farm and she agreed to start growing extras for your town.” I explained, letting the little one translate a bit.

I had no idea how she knew more English than her father but I wasn't going to ask.

“This is my portion but I'm giving it to you for now. It's not much but you can share it with everyone.” I reached into my backpack and pulled out the bag of meats that Miyoung also gave me.

His face broke into a smile that made my heart pound in my ears again.

He stepped around his child and pulled me into a hug.

I felt my stomach flop at the gesture but just politely patted his back with an awkward chuckle.

When he pulled away again it felt like a part of my soul went with him. I covered my face with my cloak hood again to hide my emotions better before he could register what he saw, if anything.

“Thank you and your sister,” he looked at me with those pretty purple eyes.

I needed to get out of here and fast, if not I think I'd spontaneously combust.

“Por favor, you stay for dinner.” he said semi-confidently.

“No puedo, lo siento, I'm very busy.” I apologized sheepishly.

“Okay, but one day I make dinner for you, por favor.” he picked up his child and whispered something in her ear.

She flashed me upturned brows, big round eyes, and a sad pout that tugged at my heartstrings.

“Okay fine, one day, but I do have to get going now.” I hummed, waving my hands in defeat.

The child smiled at her father wide, showing off all the gaps between her little teeth. He snickered happy he got what he wanted.

I waved them off and opened his door, ready to be on my merry way once more.

“¡Espera! Espera, Foolish,” he stopped me for a moment. “Mi nombre es Vegetta, y mi niña se llama Leonarda.” he introduced his little family to me with pride.

When I got back to the kingdom realization struck me like a bolt of lightning.

I was doing the thing again.

That feeling thing.

I thought about it for the majority of my day, as I wrote out papers, as I spoke to staff, as I ordered people around.

It wasn't until Tina stopped me in the hallway that I felt like I'd been snapped out of it.

“Brother?” she waved her hand in my face to better get my attention. “Are you okay?” she asked when I refocused.

I thought for a moment.

Am I okay?

Is feeling like this okay?

“I don't know,” I said absentmindedly.

This strange infatuation I had with that Spanish-speaking older-looking father needed to disappear.

And it needed to go fast, infatuation turns to love, and love turns to disappointment. Disappointment turns into despair, and the last thing Rusty Bones needs is more despair.

“Well I need you to pull it together, something happened to our baby brother.” she flashed a frown that made me want to roll over and die.

“What? What are you on about?” I felt like I’d just been splashed with cold water.

She grabbed my elbow and dragged me to Prince Quackity’s bedroom where we found him lying in bed.

“He hasn't been to any of his studies and he hasn't talked to his tutor in days. No one has seen him around the Kingdom either.” she hummed, stepping to his bedside.

“And if you listen closely, his belly keeps grumbling like he's hungry!” she looked like a sad dog as she fell to her knees and gently laid her head on his bed.

“Well why don't we call the medic, I'm sure he could figure out what happened and how to fix it.” it felt like an obvious question but I didn't want to make it seem that way.

“I fired the medic,” she added quickly, shooting the idea down immediately.

“What? Why? Since when?” I couldn't believe her.

“He asked if there was a possibility I was pregnant,” she stood again to properly retell the story.

“You can't fire the medic for asking you medical questions, what sense does that make?” I put my hands to my temples and squeezed my eyes shut.

“He was implying that I was a harlot!” she crossed her arms and looked at me angrily as she could.

“Tina! Tina, if anything he's implying that maybe something happened to you, or maybe you found someone you really like.” I explained.

“And what if I had said yes? What would've happened then? Would he tell the world? I didn't know that guy well enough to keep a secret!”

I forgot for a moment who exactly I was talking to.

Tina always owned her decisions, a trait I'm sure she didn't get from our father, but it also meant sometimes she didn't understand why the things she did would be considered wrong.

“You know what? That's fine, we can find another medic somewhere.” I dropped the situation with a deep inhale.

Tina fell to her knees again and slipped her hand into our seemingly lifeless brother’s.

I stood around for a moment too long, watching the sight in front of me.

It was the disappointment stage. I’ve been so interested in that stranger that I didn't even realize my brother hadn't woken up.

I felt stupid, how did I have an “I told you so!” moment with myself?

“Brother? Are you okay?” she asked with a concerned look. “You can talk to me about it you know,” she offered, which I was at a point where every part of me was screaming yes and no at the same time.

“Maybe another day,” I responded flatly, adjusted the train of my cape, and left the room.

As I was leaving for the throne room I found my right hand standing by the stairs.

“Boulder, can I speak with you for a moment?” I asked, catching his attention and taking him a bit away from the noise of the people outside the entrance.

“What’s going on, King?” he hummed, just as jolly as ever.

“Have you seen June anywhere? I need to speak to him about something. You can join too but I need him to do something for me.” I explained quickly.

I needed to take charge of my damn Kingdom and I needed to do it now. No more of this head up my ass stuff, the people needed me.

My people needed me.

Chapter Text

I had to hire bedside nurses to watch Quackity while the castle continued running.

It felt weird to just move onward with it but I was told I couldn't do much with a comatose boy besides wait for him to wake up.

It's quite like him to fall into a coma though, when he wakes up I'm sure he’ll feel quite high and mighty with himself.

Tina and I bonded over it while coming to terms, happy to share silly moments again.

It was that night that I promised I would stop distracting myself from the world around me. I'd pull myself together and finally stop being so strangely selfish.

The only problem was that I broke my own rules almost immediately.

In the morning I reasoned with myself quite quickly and began strolling down to that little town to give my portion of the food to the only guy I knew in there.

Every day.

Every day I find him waiting for me at the welcome sign, which I'm sure they took off of an old billboard somewhere with how weathered it looked, and then we walk to his house.

People in his town have apparently started asking him questions, they noticed my presence yet refer to me as the one who blesses them with food.

For some reason unbeknownst to me, Vegetta doesn't think it's a good idea for me to show myself to them, at least not yet.

It would be stupid of me not to trust him about that since he's the one who's lived here with these people for years. He knew the area better than I ever could.

But that wasn't the only problem.

Vegetta was still asking me to stay for that dinner I promised him, and I was very adamant about being busy every day.

Every time I told them I couldn't, they added on another day I would stay.

At the rate I was going I’d soon be up to my neck in dinners I promised to stay for, and let me say this guy wasn't getting any uglier.

“Foolish, are you even paying attention? I'm talking to you.” Tina wagged her hand in front of my face.

I snapped out of the circles I was mentally running in and turned back to her.

“Sorry, continue.” I sat up in bed, looking out my window to see the sun rising.

Vegetta would be waiting for me for quite a while. He’ll probably go back to his house and wait for me there.

“As I was saying, one of the arms dealers gave me this phone to call him next time I need a weapon to defend myself and I'm pretty sure he was trying to flirt with me but I really just want to be friends so I'm hoping he can get over himself.” she wagged her new device in my face.

“Yeah, Dakkin gave me one of those back when I was still a prince but someone robbed me outside the casino.” I snickered at the memory.

“Are you trying to prove I'm not special or something?” she seemed to get too defensive for a harmless comment, but I know how she is with stress and that's all we’ve experienced for months now.

“No, no! I was just saying. Dakkin and I were strictly business talks he wasn't flirting with me or whatever if that's what you're worried about.” I let her have her moment.

“I don't care about that,” she reminded me.

“Right, I remember.”

She shuffled to get more comfortable on my bed.

It was a lot more common of an occurrence when I wasn't the King for Tina to come rushing into my room to talk to me about the crazy night she had when staying up while the rest of the castle was asleep.

“So what's on your mind then, Brother? Go on, out with it.” she tilted her head to the side and looked at me with a nosey smile.

I needed to tell someone, right? I couldn't let this continue to eat at me. I needed someone to tell me to snap out of it. I needed someone to remind me that this was all strictly business.

I scratched the back of my head as I contemplated it.

“Fine, I'll tell you. But it doesn't leave this room.” I warned her.

She acted out zipping her mouth shut and locking it, a very Tina way of telling me she could keep that secret.

“I've been visiting someone every morning and he's invited me to dinner.” I started with bated breath. “A few dinners.” I corrected myself, fidgeting with my hands on my lap.

“Oh really? Do tell, brother!” she beamed in happy curiosity.

“Well, I keep saying I can't stay and every time I leave he makes me promise another day on top of the ones I already agreed on.” I hummed, trying my best to hide the small smile that spread on my face as I thought of it.

She scrambled to my side, sifting herself in my blankets and staring at me until I felt like a deer in headlights.

“Are you finally giving King Mendo a chance?” she said it like Mendo was the only person who could ever find me attractive.

“No, dear god no.” I shut the idea down as quickly as I could.

“I don't understand why you're not a fan of him, he's young, handsome enough, he's got his whole life ahead of him,” she offered up talking points that made me scratch my head in thought.

“When you put it that way it makes a lot of sense.” I scratched my stubble chin.

“Liking him?” she sounded, and clearly was, confused.

“No, not- Nevermind. Just no.” I huffed out a small laugh.

“I'm not sure what that means but whatever. Who is it then?” her smile faltered and lifted as she moved on.

“Well, do you remember what I told you about the night I didn't come home?” I asked shyly.

“You got kidnapped?” she raised an eyebrow unsure of what my next words would be.

“Yes, well it turns out he didn't know I was the king but he knew I was Rusty Bones and he needed our help, but anyway-” she cut me off by putting her hand to my mouth.

She took a second to process my words.

“You fell in love with your kidnapper?” she asked, which immediately rang alarm bells in my head. I pushed her hand off of me and backed up.

“No! No! I did not fall in love. Nothing like that.” I corrected her.

“My bad,” she raised her hands as if to surrender. “I just assumed with the dinners, and the seeing him every day, and the everything else.” she shrugged.

“No, it's him and his like, six-year-old child.” I explained further. “Speaking of which, I should get ready to go.” I began slipping out of my bed, ignoring how her face looked at me when I mentioned little Leo.

As she got up to take her leave I felt a sudden rush of anxiety.

“Tina,” I called quickly turning to her. She looked back at me with a smile. “I really mean it, this cannot leave this room. The only other person that will know about it is Miyoung and that's because she's going to be helping me.”

She nodded, giving me a quick “of course!” and then walked out of my bedroom.

When my door closed I swung my feet over the edge of my mattress. I put my head in my hands and took a moment to breathe.

I felt sick to my stomach but gathered myself anyway. I had shit to do. I had people to see and most importantly food to deliver.

I stood, stepping to my wardrobe and dressing myself in as casual of clothes as I could find inside.

I draped my cloak over my forearm and began the walk to the farm to pick up the goods set aside for me.

I only had a few more days until the abundance of food was ready to be regularly handed out to the members of the Town.

Only a few more excuses to go down there and see them.

When I reached the farm I found my stuff where it always was, Miyoung just passing me a look of suspicion as I threw my cloak on and grabbed the goods.

I walked off wordlessly, using the kingdom code to open the top gates, and slipped out of them. I closed and locked it behind me and then did the same when I got to the bottom of the road.

Implementing a double wall barrier was much nicer, it was one of my first orders as King. There were too many people outside the kingdom who managed to get the code and get in.

Thankfully with Boulder’s help, the second wall at the base of the hill was done in a day or two.

I strayed from the rest of the path and made my journey through the tall grass. There were barely any trees on this side of the wall, I imagined they were taken for resources quite some time ago.

Either way, I didn't have much cover to keep me hidden from anyone who was walking around on the road.

I didn't pay it any mind though, and continued my journey to the sign.

I saw the man, impatiently tapping his foot and looking around.

When he spotted me his face brightened, his shoulders relaxed and his entire demeanor changed.

I didn't want to think too much into it, I couldn't.

It wasn't my place to wonder if I provided the same break in mundane life as he provided me.

When I reached him, he turned to face the town entrance and put a sturdy palm on the middle of my back. It rested comfortably between my shoulder blades.

We strode to his house without so much as a peep, his hand stayed there though. It felt odd, him confidently attaching me to his hip like a trophy wife.

I stopped the thought right then and there.

When we made it inside he closed the door and made sure to fix the blinds. He let me put the goods on the kitchen counter before he took off my hood and grabbed my hands.

He began pulling me through the house and sitting with me on a dusty sofa.

“Escúchame Foolish,” he grabbed my shoulders and looked at me with those calming eyes. “Es el cumpleaños de mi niña bonita, ella tiene ocho años.” he started, sighing in dramatic disbelief as he said her age.

“It's Leo’s birthday?” I asked hushed to make sure that's what he said without the little one hearing me.

“Ella no está aquí ahora mismo, pero yo sé que, she would be happy to see you.” he said the most important part so I could understand.

I felt incredibly conflicted.

“To see me?” I asked again, not really needing confirmation or anything, just as if to make his words real.

“A ella le encanta,” he paused to think. “Have you around. She talks a lot.” he let me fill in the blanks.

“She talks about me?”

“Sí, eres su favorita.” he chuckled with a shrug.

A part of me melted at the thought, she's just the smallest kid, so full of life and joy. She deserved the world.

“Por favor, quédate a cenar.” he said words I learned the meaning of quickly in my time visiting.

“Okay, I'll be there.” I hummed, smiling through the mild guilt I was experiencing.

“Ay, perfecto, muchas gracias, Foolish.” he pulled me in and hugged my shoulders.

I felt like my brain was going to pop whenever I was here.

I relaxed when he let go of me. The inner saboteur inside quieted down as I took a deep breath.

“I need to get a gift, un regalo.” I sat up straighter. He shook his head and told me not to worry about it.

“Nonsense, why am I a King if I can't give people gifts?” I smiled as kindly as I could.

It took him a little convincing but he eventually agreed on the condition that he got to check the present first.

I settled with that, got him to tell me the time to return, and pulled my hood over my head, leaving the town on a positive note with a new special side quest.

I knew a few things about the little one.

She loved animals of most kinds, her favorite colour was purple, and she was confident that she was the prettiest little thing in the whole world.

It was nice to see a father raise such a kind child with no self-doubt. He was sweet to his baby, not harsh under the guise of teaching.

Maybe that was the difference between having a King and a citizen for a father.

I immediately went to my bedchambers, took a seat on my bed to form a plan, and ran my hands through my hair.

There was no point ripping it all out over “what if”s now, that was something I learned a long time ago.

Lucky for me I had most of what I needed to do already done from the sleepless night the day before.

I stood up again, rushed out of my room, and searched for my sister. Surely she would know what a kid wanted for their birthday.

Tina’s the only one I knew who even cared about birthdays to begin with.

I wandered the castle, only stopping when I saw Miyoung standing in the door of our sister’s room. She had one foot out in the hall and was speaking over her shoulder in a hushed tone.

When I got close enough to see Tina standing in her room, both of my sisters turned their heads to look at me in disbelief.

“You're going on dates with the guy you hired me to help?” Miyoung scoffed in disbelief.

I felt my stomach drop at her sentence and how loudly she insinuated such a thing.

“No!” I quickly corrected “Mind your words, someone could hear you!” I grunted through a whisper, rushing us into our sister’s room and closing the door behind me.

“Tina, I can't believe I trusted you!” I expressed my frustration with how it took her less than an hour to spill our conversation to another person. “I should've known better.”

Her brows tipped upward and she showed me a pout, something that probably would've worked on my parents.

“I didn't know you meant I couldn't tell Miyoung too,” she started just as I knew she would.

“What about ‘this doesn't leave this room’ didn't make sense to you?” I couldn't believe she was even trying that at the same time as I saw it coming from miles away.

“I didn't know, big brother, I thought it would be okay! You said she'd know anyway!” she grabbed my sleeve and tugged on it.

“Yeah, she would know, when I found the time to tell her! Do I mean that little to you that you can just tell people my secrets?” I wanted her to feel the betrayal that I felt.

It was ridiculous to me that she would complain about missing me only a week before doing something so childish.

She stared at me in silence, waiting for some kind of divine intervention or something.

“Can I go now?” Miyoung spliced through the thickness of the tension.

I sucked in a deep breath, collecting my thoughts. “Yes, but please, whatever our sister said to you stays and ends here. No more of this okay? Those are my orders as King.” I sighed.

She nodded and took her leave, closing the door behind her.

“I'm sorry, brother,” she started, retracting her hands and fiddling with them by her abdomen.

“No, I'm not done with you.” I crossed my arms over my chest. She shot me a look that feigned apologetic.

“I am not the quiet prince you get to bully around with our siblings anymore, Tina. Do you realize that if someone that didn't like me being King heard you spewing those half-truths you could be putting the people I visit in danger?”

Her head lowered as I spoke, I was unsure if she was actually listening or if my speech was going in one ear and out the other.

“I don't ask you for anything, I don't make you go to extra studies, I don't make you leave the castle walls, you do nothing but talk on the phone and sit on your ass all day, and the one time, the one time, I ask you to do something as easy as not talking and you still can't do that?”

I was being harsh and I knew it, but if I could go back and say it again, I absolutely would.

She needed a reality check because all of this disrespect of my time and my word was getting out of hand. I couldn't let my kingdom run with a princess that strayed from her path so often.

If I couldn't control my sister there was no way in hell I could control my people, especially during a war.

A smaller part of me felt like breaking down sobbing. Not only was my job difficult, but no one in this family wanted or knew how to help make it easier for me.

“I'm sorry, Foolish. I know you trusted me and I broke that trust. Is there anything I can do to show you that I'm trustworthy again?” she looked at me without the theatrical upset. She seemed genuinely apologetic, which I actually wasn't anticipating.

It was convenient though, that she would even offer to help me with something, as that was the whole reason I was here in the first place.

“It's only a start, but I need your help planning a gift.” I straightened out my shirt.

“What kind of gift?” she asked curiously.

“I don't know, I was hoping you could help me because you were a young girl once.” I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly.

“What does that have to do with anything?” she seemed confused and curious.

“The man you so lovingly spoke to our sister about is throwing his daughter an eighth birthday party and I was allowed to get her a gift as long as he approves when he checks it.” I explained, unable to look her in the eye as I said it aloud.

“So you guys aren't dating but you're getting his child gifts?” she raised her brow at my situation.

“He told me that I'm all she talks about and that I'm her favourite. I've never been a favorite before,” I shrugged. “I couldn't let her go the whole birthday without a gift from me. I'm a king, you know? What excuse would I have?”

She showed me a smile that made me want to go back on this whole idea.

“Get her a dress that she could wear for the party,” she suggested. “Nothing too fancy though.”

“Okay, I think that would be okay. I still need help though, I don't know who to talk to to make such a thing,” I hummed.

“Don't you know how to sew?” she asked as if it was the obvious choice.

“I tailored my own pants once and used to fix the holes in Dad’s favourite underwear, I don't think that qualifies me as a seamstress.” I pumped the brakes on that one.

She bit the inside of her cheek, looking up to the ceiling in thought.

“I think I know a gal who could get the work done,” she nodded and looked at me with a smile. “And she's a peacekeeper in the neutral zone, so she won't tell anyone else about the commission.” she promised.

“Okay, thank you.” I smiled with an exhale of relief.

She took me to the woman she was referring to, calling ahead of time of course, and I gave her all the details I could about the young child I needed it for.

She said she'd work as fast as she could, warning us to never give her something so last minute again before sending me on my way with a new cell phone in hand.

I had half an hour to spare before I got the call from the lady who helped me with my gift.

When I got back there to grab the dress she handed me a small bag with sewing equipment in it, showing me how to tailor this specific kind of garment in case it needed it.

A tiered summer dress in a pretty lilac fabric, I hoped it would be accepted by Vegetta.

I put it in a gift box that Tina helped me prepare, though she mostly picked out colours and talked about the armsman she was trying to befriend.

I tucked it into my cape, as I usually did with the food I brought them, and made my way to the town from the seamstress’ home.

I made sure I wasn't being followed, moving between trees and train tracks.

When I got there, Vegetta wasn’t at our usual meeting place, which made sense since he was probably preparing whatever festivities he was planning.

I did my best to slip into the town and get to his house unnoticed. I carefully went up his front steps, knocking on his door softly.

The door opened and Vegetta had to do a double take. He looked at me like he saw a ghost.

“You came,” he sounded surprised as he pulled me inside, looking around outside to make sure no one was watching before closing the door.

He frowned at me and rubbed his palm on his face as if he was upset about something.

“Rey Foolish, lo siento pero the party is maybe not happening.” he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me with a disappointed face.

“What happened?” I asked, suddenly worried something happened to Leo.

“She doesn't want to party, se siente fea.” he looked like he wanted to sob but couldn't let himself. If I hadn't been the literal king of that feeling I probably wouldn't have been able to clock it.

“¡Porque soy fea, pa!” she shouted from her room.

I took his arm, walking him to his kitchen, and facing the counter so that if she did try to sneak around the corner she wouldn't be able to see anything.

“Would this help?” I asked, putting the box in front of me. He opened it and looked inside curiously. “I can fix it if it doesn't fit,” I added quickly as he pulled it out a bit.

His eyes welled with sparkling tears and he put it all back before turning to me with the biggest smile.

He pulled my hood off from over my head and grabbed my face in his palms.

“Ay Foolish,” he kissed both of my cheeks and then pulled my shoulders into a hug. “Has salvado el día,” he hummed in my ear.

I hugged him back for the first time, which made him squeeze me tighter.

I thought I was going to explode if I spent any more time this close to him, but I'd rather die than let go first.

“¡Mija perfecta!” he called as he slipped away from me. “¡Ven aquí, mi niña!”

It took a second for her to peek her head around the corner. She had the biggest frown I'd ever seen pulling at her face, puffy red eyes from crying, and tear stains on her cheeks.

“Hola, Leo.” I smiled sympathetically with a little wave.

She moved around the table to look at me better, her little outfit had grass stains and holes where they weren't supposed to be, and her hair was messy, though probably from whatever fight she was putting up with her dad.

“Tengo un regalo para tí,” I grabbed the box, approached her carefully, and knelt at her eye level.

She looked at her father as if asking for his approval. I looked over to see him nodding, to which she pulled the cover off carefully.

She pulled the dress out and looked at it. I couldn't see her face from how she held it up but when she put it down again I saw tears flowing down her face again. She sniffled and then wailed as she leaped into my arms.

“Thank you!” she blubbered in my ear.

I felt like a hero like I finally did something good for someone.

The party planning continued as they were going to originally. This time I helped fix up the little one’s dress as her father helped give her a proper bath, letting her get all dressed up.

She asked me to brush her hair while her father set up the small area for the party in their backyard.

We set up so that I was sitting on the couch in the family room and she was knelt on the floor in front of me.

When the back door shut she moved her head to peer outside through the window.

“My pa really likes you,” she turned around to look at me. She planted her palms on my knees and leaned over to look at me intensely.

“What?” I laughed, taken slightly off guard.

“He thinks you're pretty and says you have nice muscles.” she stated before going back to kneeling on the floor, waiting for me to finish brushing her hair.

Chapter Text

I spent an insane amount of time thinking about what Leo said to me.

No clue if she knew but she changed my brain chemistry, the way I worked, how I felt.

It took me a few hours to come back to my senses.

Maybe all night.

Maybe I'm still thinking about it.

I have an early morning meeting with Mendo to try and negotiate some sort of peace between us even if just temporarily.

I could probably make it to my daily food delivery before then, worst-case scenario I show up late to see Mendo, though maybe that would be a bad idea.

No.

I have a kingdom to protect.

I dressed myself properly for the meeting and grabbed the cloak just in case.

I slipped on my shoes and immediately made my way to the farm.

The walk was getting so normal to me that I felt like I could make it with my eyes closed.

“Miyoung,” I called to her as she was handing a basket of vegetables to one of the artists.

“King Foolish?” she hummed, turning to grab another basket.

“I have an early meeting with King Mendo today so I don't know if I’ll be able to deliver my portion to the town, would you be able to help me?” I pleaded.

“I can't, sorry. There was a problem with someone stealing extra rations while I was away so I have to hand them out now.” her face soured as she slid the basket over to me. “I wanna see if I can catch them in the act before I start having to make daily deliveries to your little friend’s town.” she added, teasing me a little.

“You can take my new horse if you want!” Tina said from behind me.

I jumped, almost dropping the fresh food in my hands.

“Fuck, you scared me,” I mumbled for only us to hear. “You wouldn't mind?” I asked.

She shook her head with a sweet smile.

A part of me felt bad that she was trying so hard to make up for what she did, though I still stood by the fact that it was irresponsible of her.

I handed her the basket for a second before pulling the cloak from over my arm and hiding myself from the exposure of day.

I gladly accepted the offer before she walked me over to the stable she had Boulder build for her months ago.

“When did you get a horse?” I questioned as she opened the door.

“I found him on the side of the road when I was visiting the Colosseum with your advisor last night.” she hummed. “I took you up on your suggestion, you know, leaving the house more.”

I lead the animal out of the stable by its reins. She had it saddled up nicely, something that we learned how to do when we were kids.

I walked with her and her horse out of the kingdom walls, listening to her talk more about their adventures of the night as we went.

“That’s good. Remember to always have an escort go with you, and thank you again for letting me take your horse.” I left her with some parting words as I mounted the animal and adjusted myself properly.

I pulled my hood over my head and reached for the basket.

She smiled at me as I hooked it into my elbow, waving me off.

This horse was fast, much faster than I remember horses being, which was good considering I needed to get there and go.

I made sure none of the food fell on the way there as we galloped through the tall wheat grass.

It was by some miracle that the hood of my cloak was still concealing my identity. I could hear the wind as it passed over my ears, it cooled my face as it bit my skin.

When I saw the town in the distance, I saw the man of the hour.

I suddenly felt my heart race, my forehead began perspiring. I forgot what it was like to be in his general vicinity, especially after what his daughter told me.

I was grateful now more than ever that I was covered and he wouldn't be able to see my face.

I slowed the horse down the closer we got until we reached a full stop. I was surprised my ability seemed to keep up after all these years away from it.

I swung my leg back over the animal and carefully climbed down, not wanting to spoil any of the food.

“Vegetta dear, I'm afraid I don't have too much time today,” I felt immediately embarrassed as the words fell from my mouth like rocks.

I had no idea what came over me, and honestly, I was afraid to delve into it.

“¿Qué?” he asked looking at me in what hopefully wasn’t surprise of understanding me.

“I have somewhere to be this morning, but I wanted to still give you the food,” I spoke slower, hoping he’d be able to pick the sentence apart and understand a little here and there at the very least.

“Ah, ok. No te peocupes.” he seemed a bit disappointed, which made my inner thoughts battle with each other, but I still had responsibilities at the end of the day.

“Pero, yo tengo que hablar más contigo mañana porque es el día final por este.” I mustered up in the best Spanish I could as I handed the basket over.

“Oh, ok.” he seemed to piece it together, taking the food with a hesitantly broken smile.

I reached my hand to his shoulder and looked into his eyes, not that he would know.

“I promise, I'll visit again,”

He didn't look any more excited, a big part of me felt like he didn't believe what I said.

I pulled away from him, not wanting to drag myself into something that I couldn't get out of, and then got back up on the horse.

I waved him off as I started to ride away, though it felt like a chunk of me stayed with him.

Maybe I could've hugged him, reassured him I'd be there, but I couldn't.

I did my best to ignore the tired sadness in his eyes as it replayed in my head.

As the horse galloped further from the town, I started to take the cloak off as strategically as I could while winding through the cover of trees.

I stuffed it into my bag, letting it take up practically all my space.

I reached the meeting place quite fast thanks to the help of Tina and her field trip last night.

I tied the horse off to a post in the front of the building and headed inside.

Mendo was sat at one end of the room, watching me walk in impatiently. His muddy boots were crossed over one another on the table as he leaned against the back of the dusty chair.

“You're late,” he groaned as he sat up. “Fashionably, at that,” he added, looking me over in a way that made me uncomfortable.

“Sorry, I had morning errands to run.” I hummed as I sat down across from him.

His expression changed again as he watched me intensely.

“What kind of errands?” he seemed unable to sit still, as his knee was then pulled into his chest.

“That's not important to what we’re here to discuss.” I dismissed him.

“I'd like to hear the hobbies of my future husband,” he spoke so flatly it was like he thought it to be fact.

“Mendo, I'm not going to marry you. I would appreciate it if you stopped referring to me as if I'm your fiancé.” I folded my fingers together in my lap, crossing my leg over the other.

“You'll come around, King,” he said so confidently it made me want to march over to the town and confess my love to Vegetta out of spite.

“I won't, but anyway, I know your men just had a recent cut in numbers. Maybe we should call a truce?” I offered just a little nugget of the idea before I worked my way up to permanent peace.

It was known by everyone that the Kingdom of Thorn Ridge has always been quite bloodthirsty.

He looked me up and down again before uncomfortably biting his lip.

“I was thinking maybe a week bare minimum.” I ignored the fact that he seemingly wasn't paying attention and was just nodding along with what I said.

“A week is perfect. We could plan our wedding,” he proved me wrong with a blood-curdling smile.

“King Mendo, I will not marry you. Not today, not tomorrow, not in the future, not even yesterday.” I clarified, fixing my posture as I adjusted myself uncomfortably.

He moved around in his chair again as well, looking me directly in the eye.

“Tell me, is there another person?” he raised a curious brow, confidently getting up and walking toward me.

“Your level of unprofessionalism today is astounding.” I brushed his words off as he leaned in closer to watch me intensely.

“So there is another?” he tilted his head. “Doesn't matter, you'll get over them.” he assured me in this fucked up way that was really making my skin boil.

“If you're not willing to strike a deal with me I am just going to have to leave.” I tried keeping my cool despite how much he was prodding.

“Why don't you just delegate this power to someone else? It gives you so much free time to be who you are and figure yourself out.” he changed the subject and reached his hand out to caress my face.

His touch was uncomfortably soft. It held nothing in comparison to Vegetta’s calloused hard-working hands or the way they handled my skin as gently as they could.

“Who do you give the power of negotiations then? I'll have to start meeting with them instead.” I slapped his hand away and looked into his eyes with as straight of a face as I could muster up.

The room stayed silent as he stood up straight, no longer hovering over me like a barracuda.

The tension in the air thickened as he took his seat again.

“You have something that belongs to my kingdom. If you give them back we can talk better negotiations.” his jaw jutted out as he started taking me seriously finally.

“What are you talking about? We didn't take anything,” I was much more interested now that the topic wasn't his fantasy romance.

“The Kingdom of Thorn Ridge had an alliance with the Village up north and when you kidnapped our artists, the village disbanded.” he crossed his arms over his chest.

I thought a moment back to the day I was summoned for the issue, and how none of it ever indicated that we were ripping them from anything but a hostile environment.

“Are you sure they knew they were under your power?” I felt like the answer was already abundantly clear, but felt the need to ask anyway.

“Of course they did, we had Coconut tell them everything.” he shrugged it off like I even knew what he was saying.

“Who is Coconut?” I asked as politely as I could.

“Well, he was their sheriff. Now he's our leading commander.” he clarified. “He's a good warrior when he's not being targetted by an entire army.” his voice did its best to jab at me, though it was a laughable attempt with how little he knew about the situation.

“The artists came to me seeking refuge, Mendo. I'm not going to hand them to you against their will just for a week of peace.” I denied his original offer.

I couldn't just abandon them, they were Rusty Bones, and they thrived quite well in our walls. They helped bring a new life into the Kingdom that I would always be grateful for. They were creative minds similar to what mine once was.

“Why not? They could have a room in the shelter, a place to work on what they love.” he brushed it off.

I was starting to see a pattern in his behaviour that raised more red flags than lowered.

“People want to be able to make their own decisions, Mendo. They didn't enjoy how bloodthirsty Coconut was, they're peacekeepers.”

He shrugged at me like he only wanted to agree to make me happy.

“Sometimes people don't realize they’re making a mistake until it's too late. I'm waiting for the day that you come to your senses as well.” his voice sounded too relaxed for my liking.

I stood up, flattening out the wrinkles in my outfit, and politely bowed my head in a quick goodbye.

“Where are you going?” he moved to sit on the table.

“For you to insinuate living in my kingdom is a mistake is another reason why I will never ‘come to my senses’. I realize we won't get anywhere with this negotiation so prepare what's left of your men for a battle.” I made my way to the door.

Mendo stopped me as I was pulling the door open, trying his best to retract his statement.

“Woah, King Foolish, I didn't mean it like that at all, don't take offense.” he raised his hands in defeat. “Look, I know I push a lot but I respect everything you've done and worked for so far.” he grabbed my shoulders and flashed a faux kind smile.

I watched the man as he slipped his hands down my arms. He grabbed my hands, bringing my rings to his lips and kissing them.

It was a respect thing but it was something that always made me uncomfortable.

Honestly, I always forget that I put these things on every day.

There were only three, two of them having been in the family for centuries, representing the bloodline and the kingdom, and the last was made to honor my late parents.

“How about I raise your proposal to two weeks?” he asked. Just like that, he'd fallen into a trap I didn't realize I’d placed. If anything, I wanted to see how far I could take it.

“What about four months?” I raised too high hoping I could negotiate an even better deal.

“Four months?” he asked in mild shock.

“Four months,” I just flashed a smile. It was also a test of how badly he wanted me because I needed to find a productive way to use his unwavering persistence.

“Let's not be rash now, King Foolish.” he chuckled in disbelief.

“Two and a half months, take it or leave it.” I hummed.

He agreed after a bit of convincing. We wrote up the physical proof of our treaty of peace, and then quickly went our separate ways.

When I got to the castle, my presence was announced by a man standing in a watchtower who was seemingly waiting for me to come through the gate.

“Oh hello,” I greeted the people, mildly confused.

They all stared at me expectantly, waiting for me to say anything else before going about their lives.

“I have an announcement.” I cleared my throat and did my best to sit on the horse more assertively. “I made an agreement with the Kingdom of Thorn Ridge for two and a half months of peace in the war.” I proclaimed confidently.

The people around me reacted with a mix of whispering to one another and cheering.

“King Foolish has done it again!” June said through a smile as he waved his arms to hype the crowd up more.

I hated when he did that, he knew I did, but the little bit of lighthearted teasing was enough to help break the tension between me and my people.

To be fair the tension was usually all in my head.

Boulder and June helped me return the horse to its stable and then followed me inside of the castle where I had to find my sister and tell her the news.

I also needed to hide the treaty in the study lockbox but one thing at a time.

“Oh, Brother of mine!” I heard her voice echo from down one of the halls.

We followed the sound until we met up with her. She was beaming with delight from her every pore.

I already knew what this look on her face meant.

“I heard there was a three-month declaration of peace!” she fit her thumbnail in between her teeth with a wide smile.

“Two and a half, but yes, there is.” I corrected.

“I was thinking, we should throw a celebration! You know?” she took another step forward.

“Go ahead,” I sighed. “The kingdom needs more positives after everything.” I waved her off to start planning the party.

She, however, didn't move and instead asked to speak to me privately in another room.

I followed her into one of the storage rooms we used to get in trouble for playing in.

“You should invite the guy and his kid.” she said as soon as the door closed.

“What?” I laughed awkwardly.

“I think you should invite your friend and his kid to the party.” she repeated clearly for me.

“I don't know if I know him well enough to just invite him to a party like that.” I tried to dismiss the topic as fast as I could.

“Well there should be no attacks for a while, maybe you should go for all those dinners.” she pointed out as she opened the door and started skipping off.

I stood there speechless, watching as she left me with the idea and the sudden want to see him.

Chapter Text

As soon as I woke up in the morning I got ready for the day.

I showered, shaved away my stubble, and spritzed my skin with cologne. I got myself ready in as nice of a casual outfit as I could find, I even did my hair.

I wanted to make sure I was going to be comfortable sitting in a small room for hours at a time.

I wanted to look and sound and smell nice. I didn't want to sour immediately upon being there, and I didn't want to be obviously self-conscious about it either.

A knock at my door made me suddenly aware of myself. I so easily threw out my morals for this guy, it made me queasy to think about. I was getting nicely dressed with hopes of impressing a man.

I felt sick as I reached to open it.

I saw June on the other side of the door, and he was immediately caught off guard by the way I was dressed.

“There's someone here to see you, my Lord.” he cleared his throat and shook his head of the distraction that was most likely him trying to find out why I looked the way I did.

“Who?” I asked, straightening out my posture.

“I don't know, he said he was from a town?” his words made my heart drop.

“Did he say what he was here for?” I stuttered, swallowing down the sudden fear clawing at my throat.

“I don't know, he said he knew you? I don't think he spoke much English if I'm being honest with you, King.” he shrugged, assuming my reaction would either give him the okay to kick him out or bring me down to see him.

“Oh, wonderful, okay.” I tried my best not to be visibly overwhelmed, even though alarm bells were ringing in my head as my brain felt like it was melting from the inside out.

“Is everything alright?” he queried, worry plaguing his features.

“Of course, why wouldn't it be?” I brushed him off and walked out of my room.

As we passed the portrait of our family that my father had scorched in his drunken fit of rage, I paused.

“June, please get something to cover that.” I took a breath.

“Like what, my King?” he hummed.

“I don't know, a curtain? A sheet? I just don't want it in my line of sight.” I swallowed my bitterness again and continued down to my throne room.

I found Vegetta standing uncomfortably as he looked around, just waiting for me to appear.

I immediately approached him before anyone else could, feeling a weight lift from my shoulders as he looked at me with a smile of relief.

“Rey Foolish,” he exhaled as he looked me over.

“Hola, Vegetta. ¿Qué haces aquí?” I asked, trying so very hard not to blush or look stupid.

“Hay un pequeño problema en el pueblo,” he raised his hand, pinching his fingers as close as possible to represent how small the problem was.

“Ven conmigo,” I politely grabbed his elbow and walked him out of the very public throne room.

We made it to a little library room that used to get a lot more use when we were kids, though it just collects dust now.

“What happened?” I felt worry rise in my chest.

“Mis vecinos, Foolish.” he looked at me and immediately looked away. “They think you are un ángel, y que yo soy el elegido.”

I stood there in shock for a moment.

“They give me gifts for giving to you,” he pulled out a bag with metal scrap pieces, which there was no way in the world I could accept.

“I can't take this, I'm so sorry, I never meant to make them think such a thing.” I couldn't help the frown that pulled at my face.

He grabbed my hand, turned it over so my palm faced the ceiling, and then planted the small bag in it, curling my fingers over it with his other hand.

“Please, take something for all your help.” his voice was soft on my ears.

I wordlessly did the same to him, staring intensely at the way his hand moved.

“I was hoping I could just stay for dinner,” I hummed, breaking my gaze away to see his reaction. “If you would still have me.”

His cheeks went red as he looked me over again.

“I got dressed for it and all,” I looked down at the clothes I’d put on. “I hope it looks nice,” I mumbled the last part to myself.

Someone knocked on the door, startling us both enough for us to jump.

“Foolish? You in here?” Miyoung asked on the other side. I walked to the door, opening it with a smile that I realized looked guilty when it was too late to change it.

“Yes, I am, is there a problem?” I asked.

She saw me and the man she had never seen before, immediately making her face twist in confusion.

“Who is that?” she seemed concerned for my safety and health.

I pulled her into the room and closed the door behind her.

“This is Vegetta, from the town.” I turned to him. “Ella es mi hermana, Miyoung. She makes la comida para ti.” I introduced them to one another.

He thanked her, which I had to translate for her since her Spanish was zero to none.

“Well, Tina was looking for you. She wanted your opinion on something but I can tell her you're busy.” she offered, side-eyeing the guest in a way I hoped didn't make him uncomfortable.

“Yes, please. You don't have to explain, she should know.” I tried my best to quickly send her off. The last thing I wanted was for more people to show up and start making us both uncomfortable.

“Foolish, I need to go to my home,” he grabbed my upper arms, thumbs rubbing the bend of my muscles in a way that reminded me of what his child told me.

“Pero, puedes come home conmigo,” he ignored the way I blushed, thankfully.

I cleared my throat and nodded. “Okay,”

I'd never felt so pathetic in my entire life than that moment, as desperate as a dog, but it made him laugh which made it not so bad.

“¡Mi niña, tengo una sorpresa para ti!” he called for the little one as we entered his house.

Her little feet thumped against the floorboards quickly as she started running into the room.

As she did so Vegetta closed all of the windows and blinds so that I could take off the cloak.

When she saw me she looked excited, I'd never felt so much joy looking at such a happy little face.

I understood why her father did everything she asked and more, I'd only known her for a couple of weeks and I'd already move mountains for her if they got in her way.

“Are you staying for dinner?” she asked, grabbing my hand as Vegetta took my cloak and put it up on a coat hanger.

“Sí,” I felt overwhelmed already, going from the sweet energy of walking and talking with the man to being lugged around by his young child.

“Pa, quiero jugar a las muñecas con tu nuevo novio.” she said so casually as she pulled me to the other room. I slapped my empty palm over my face to stop myself from laughing at her child-like audacity.

It was even funnier when I caught a last-second glimpse of Vegetta snapping in our direction with wild eyes.

“¡Leonarda, deja de llamarlo así!” he shouted, which made not laughing even harder.

Even though I didn't completely understand what he said, the way the little one snickered as she rounded the corner into her room made it obvious that she'd been teasing him about his apparent feelings for me.

I was told to sit on her carpet so that we could play with her toys.

She clambered onto her bed and snatched two plush animals.

One was a little bear with a big red heart sewn into its hands and the other was a raggedy cat I'm sure she had for a good chunk of her life.

She handed me the cat, which looked like she spent a long time ripping its fur out, and then looked at me with a serious expression. Her hands fell onto my knees just as they had the last time she told me something I shouldn't have found out.

“Mi mama es un ángel, y mi pa me dijo que no mujer take her place,” she started in a hushed tone. I couldn't believe she'd just air all this out to me so abruptly.

“Pero no eres una mujer, ¿verdad?” she shook her head as she asked, so I shook mine back in response.

I guess I never really thought about Leo’s mother, it was never any of my business so I never really cared enough to give it any sort of second thought.

Not that I didn't care, but rather, I didn't think it was important for me to know.

“Bueno,” she stood up and ran to a box on the other side of the room, pulling out a handmade doll with button eyes and yarn for hair.

She asked me if I knew how to braid, which I showed her that I did by braiding the doll’s yarn head.

“¿Puedes enseñarme?” she asked, which led to what felt like hours teaching her little hands how to maneuver hair.

Even when she was so upset she wanted to give up, I had her sit with her back to me so we could braid yarn side by side.

Once she learned how, she grabbed everything with hair and started putting braids in it.

Eventually, I saw the older man poke his head in with a smile, his demeanor softened at the sight of me confirming all of her braids as good.

“Foolish, I need your help with something,” he spoke up, tearing me away from the fun.

I could feel Leo’s eyes burning holes into my back as I walked side by side with her father.

“I’m sorry about what she says.” he tried to apologize on her behalf.

“Don't be, I like learning about you.” I playfully bumped my elbow into his side.

He immediately looked a bit defeated but opted to continue what he was doing anyway. He had me help him cut something, which I hadn't done before.

I was royalty, it wasn't too often we were even allowed to be on the inside of the kitchen, let alone cut a vegetable.

His arms wrapped around me and his hands carefully grabbed mine as he taught me how to cut a pepper.

My entire body both heated up and went numb at the same time. It was like a wave of emotions making me mildly seasick.

It felt nice, like a part of me from long ago was healing. In this house, with this beautiful man and his pretty child.

My errors weren't faced with unruly consequences that warped me as a human. My fixes and achievements, albeit small, were celebrated and taken care of with smiles and words of praise.

I didn't think such kindness existed in this world, finding out I was just looking for it in the wrong places made me feel hope.

It was under this roof that I finally understood my brother and his actions because if I could run away and live in this little house I'd do it so many times over with a zero regret rate.

But the kingdom needed this kind of change. It needed someone who was willing to show it kindness.

When the dinner was done, I found I was riddled with anxiety.

I knew food was a big part of human nature and culture, and I didn't want to be rude, I didn't know if my customs around eating were different.

But as I was told to take a seat, I was bombarded with questions from little Leo as she sat in her chair.

“How did you learn how to braid?” she asked, getting comfortable.

“My sisters and their ladies-in-waiting taught me how to braid a long time ago.”

“¿Qué es eso?” she asked, putting her elbows on the table.

I suddenly felt my throat close, taken back to a time when I would see my youngest siblings do such a thing. When our knuckles would be whacked with scalding hot serving spoons as punishment.

I paused, waiting with bated breath for Vegetta to turn around.

“Are you okay?” Leo asked, looking at her arm and pulling me out of my mind for a bit. Vegetta dropped whatever was in his hand to look over.

“Sí, of course, don't worry.” I smiled. “Sorry, what was your question?” I corrected myself.

“¿Qué es ‘ladies-in-waiting’?” she asked again, immediately letting go of whatever happened, though I could still see Vegetta staring at us in my peripherals.

“Son mujeres, they help my sisters get dressed and bathe, and do their hair,” I explained, crossing my hands subconsciously in my lap. “My sister Miyoung gave her lady-in-waiting to my sister Tina not too long ago.”

“Pa es mi lady-in-waiting.” she put her hand to her mouth as she snickered.

“Sí, soy yo porque no sabes cómo ducharte.” he laughed back as he turned around to go back to whatever he was doing.

She stuck her tongue out to the back of her dad’s head, which he reacted to with some sort of “I saw that,” and explaining all parents had eyes on the back of their heads.

She ignored him and went back to questioning me. “How did you know you wanted to be King?” she said the last word hush.

“I didn't want to be King, I wanted to be a musician.” I fixed my hair as I answered.

“¿Verdad?” she hummed with a frown.

Vegetta brought a pot of food to the table, resting it on an extra little slab of wood.

“Yes, but I don't have time to play anymore, being a king is a lot of work.” I sighed with a nod.

“¿Qué instrumento?” the man asked as he grabbed plates for the table.

“I used to play a lot of instruments, like the guitar, and the flute, and the violin.” I pretended to play them in case the words didn't transfer. “My favourite of them all was the cello.”

She looked at me with a childlike wonder that made me feel happy.

It was hard for me to think back on those times and feel happy, but I wasn't going to start confiding in a freshly eight-year-old girl and her father. I could find a therapist or a notebook for that.

“¿Pero ya no tocas ningún instrumento?” she looked at her dad with a frown.

“I'll tell you a secret,” I whispered, still loud enough for the other man to hear but enough to pretend like he couldn't.

“A veces yo toco el piano.” I really had to rack my brain for it but I managed pretty well. “When my work is stressful, I sneak out of my room and play pretty songs.” I nodded.

“But you can't tell anyone,” I hummed as Vegetta grabbed a big metal spoon from the kitchen.

My hands subconsciously wrapped over the edge of the table, something I hadn't done in years, but was probably brought back by the lingering thought of elbows on the table.

I felt fingers gently caress my knuckles, but the touch felt like electricity coursing through my body. I jumped as an immediate reaction, making the hand pull away.

“¿Estás seguro de que estás bien?” Vegetta looked worried.

“Sí, solo estoy nervioso, lo siento.”

It took me a few nights of dinners to get over the anxiety that came with it.

Growing closer with them also meant getting a lot more comfortable with fitting myself into the small roles I was allowed to play.

If Leo listened to me better than her own father it was because of the established respect between all three of us, and if Vegetta’s palm lingered on my skin it didn't bother me.

Well, sometimes I froze in surprise, but I wouldn't say I was bothered by it.

I hear stories about what life is like in the Town when I’m not there, how all of Leo’s little friends are jealous because she knows “the angels” that bless them.

My identity was something Vegetta and I were trying to find a way to reveal to the town, but without knowing the problem it was a bit difficult.

My sisters also amped up their teasing quite fast. They didn't waste time telling me that I was a lot nicer to them now and that I was happy.

In fact, the only issue I had now was that I often came back from the visits with a pile of problems I could've gotten to if I was still at the castle.

It didn't stop me from visiting, even though my sister had started to make the journey every few days in a cloak to deliver a bountiful harvest.

Even now, as we had just put Leo to bed and were getting ready to sit together in the family room, I wasn't even a little worried about having to stay up late with work up to my ears.

“Vegetta,” I hummed softly.

“¿Qué?” he put his hands on my knees and looked at me intensely.

It was something I realized Leo learned from her father, though being this close to her dad was a lot different for my mind than when she did it.

“I was wondering what your thoughts would be if I offered you to live in the kingdom.” I bit the inside of my lip, air was heavy on my chest as I was standing right beside him.

“Bueno, no puedo dejar mi pueblo atrás.” he huffed as he took a seat beside me.

“They could come too,” I explained, grabbing his hands in mine. “I could rebuild your homes with my best builders, you could start your own farms if you wanted.” I tried my best to sell it to him.

“I could see you more,” I looked away for a moment, hoping he'd ignore the heat that scorched my face.

His face melted in the comforting warmth between us.

“Eres guapo y joven, ¿por qué no encuentras una reina que te ayude?” he asked, doing his best to break down the bigger words into English for me.

“No, I don't really do that,” I shook my head and took my hands back.

“¿Qué no haces?” he moved into my view with a face that felt like he just wanted to understand.

“I've just never really been interested in someone like that before.” I shrugged, feeling doe-eyed in his presence.

“¿Verdad?” his face tangled in disbelief as he leaned back and looked me up and down. His arm crossed over his chest and the other scratched at his stubble.

“Well,” I swayed off to the side and bit the inside of my cheek, disconnecting him from my line of sight again.

The man hummed at my reaction like he could see through my skin and read my mind.

“Foolish, you enjoy someone’s company, ¿no?” he got comfortable beside me, flooding my body with a sickeningly sweet feeling. He was like honey trickling down the back of my neck.

“Keep it up. Keep it up and find out.” I laughed a bit, trying to play it off confidently.

He put his calloused palm on my inner elbow as he reeled back in laughter.

It was comfortable for me. Here in this place as it got more familiar. As my presence was accepted.

When he calmed down from his joyous fit I leaned into him.

“Seriously, would you consider living in Rusty Bones if the others come along?” I asked softly, trying not to pressure him in any way.

He hugged the rest of my arm, getting even closer. I felt like the air was leaving my lungs, forcibly being taken out by his gentle touch.

And speaking of gentle touch, I felt even crazier when his fingers trailed down my forearms, into my palm, and sifted into the spaces between mine.

“It is nice, seeing you more,” he hummed before his chin hit my shoulder.

His eyes stared at me intensely, waiting for my next move. He was keeping it up, and not only that, but I wanted nothing more than to make him find out.

“Foolish!” it was as if she knew what was happening because Leo immediately called for me from her room.

“¿Qué necesitas, mi niña bonita?” Vegetta covered my ear to respond to her.

“Quiero hablar con Fulich antes de que se vaya.” she whined.

I was honestly glad she said something though, as suddenly realizing where I was and what was happening made me feel like my heart was going to stop beating.

He sighed as detangled from me in disappointment.

“Go, she wants to talk with you,” his accent was thicker in his mild bitterness.

Though, admittedly, this was how most nights have been ending so far. I spend a pretty small amount of time with him alone.

The most that our actions consist of are “glances in passing” or “lingering acts of comforting kindness”.

He and I had been strictly friendly until today, which made me wonder exactly what on earth changed.

I stood up hesitantly and made my way to her room. I sat on the side of her bed and waited for her to talk to me.

Her little fingers grabbed my hand so she could see it. “I made you this yesterday, I forgot.” she put her hand in the center of my palm and dropped something in it.

A ring made of coloured twine that was braided together. I felt my heart explode and come together and fall apart again.

“Is this why you asked me to teach you how to braid?” I asked, helping her put it on my smallest finger as it was the only one that it fit on.

She nodded with a proud smile.

“Thank you so much, Leo. I love it.” I pulled her into a hug.

When she pulled away I tucked her back into her bed, getting ready to return to her father’s side for a moment before I went home.

“Fulich,” she stopped me again.

“Yes, Leo?” I let out a small laugh at her ability to reign me in.

“When will you marry my pa?” she asked through a yawn.

“Leo, your dad and I aren't even dating.” I patted her sleepy head.

“Why?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.

“I need to spend more time with him, little one.” I tucked her hair behind her ear. “We are good friends I think, and that can be enough for me.”

It didn't take her too long to go back to sleep surprisingly, which left me with no other choice than to say goodbye.

I went back to the couch where I found Vegetta half asleep with a frown cut deep into his cheeks.

I sat at the edge of the sofa, as I had for his child, and started caressing the side of his face, using the stray hairs on his head as an excuse to do so.

“No me digas que ya es hora de que te vayas,” he huffed tiredly.

“It is,” I hummed.

Truthfully, I hated this part, but I'd already stayed a bit later than I should've.

He responded by attaching himself to me, burying his nose into the nape of my neck. I could feel his frown, his breathing, his want to reel me in closer.

I opted to take him to his bed, carrying him in my arms, which was quite hard with how he was probably only an inch or two shorter than me.

I tucked him in as well, which I know we’d be able to laugh about another day, and then pressed a little farewell peck on his temple. As I was leaving I heard commotion behind me.

“Foolish, espera,” he mumbled, trying his best to reel me in again. I sat beside him one last time, promising myself it was just one last time. “Quiero darte un beso,” he mumbled.

Before I could register what he said in my mind, he grabbed my face and closed the gap between us, kissing me with a delirious smile.

“Gracias por todos,” he mumbled when he laid back down.

“God damn it, why do you always have to make it so hard to leave,” I grumbled, following him and selfishly stealing another. “If I didn't have work to do,”

I pulled myself away from him and left his room, I put my cloak on and started the journey home, ready to stay up until my retinas burned from keeping them open.

Chapter Text

“You wanted to speak with me, my King?” Boulder said as he poked his head in through the doorway of the study.

“Yes, come in, please.” I sat up straighter in preparation.

He closed the door behind him quietly and stepped to the desk, only sitting down when I invited him to do so.

“Do you know any Spanish?” I asked quickly, just to make sure.

“Very, very little, not enough to speak it.” he was confused but answered anyway.

I hummed as I thought of how I wanted to talk about this. Boulder was my right-hand man, my closest friend. If I could talk to anyone about this, it was him.

Plus, it took me almost half the day just to build up the courage to tell him, so I wasn't letting myself back down now.

I reached into the desk drawer beside me, pulled out the old letter to my father, and then put it down facing him. He watched wordlessly as I slid it to his side of the desk.

“Can you read any of that?” I asked curiously, letting him take a look through each line.
After a moment he bit the inside of his cheek and sent it back to me.

“Not really,” he admitted.

“Damn, that's a shame.” I droned, looking it over again with the hopes of maybe understanding something better.

“Do you know what it says?” he asked me curiously, wiping his hands on his pants legs.

“I don't know what this says specifically, but I do know what it's about,” I explained as I scanned the words, only understanding a little better than the last time I read it.

“When you were making the kingdom walls, do you remember passing by a town?” I asked curiously.

He stared off into the distance to think back. After a minute he looked at me like the words clicked.

“Yeah, the little town right? I didn't think much of it at the time, it looked abandoned.” he nodded as he recalled.

“Yes, well, it isn't. People still live there.” I started, putting the paper back where it belonged.

“Really? It looked so barren,” he frowned at the idea.

“Yes, and worst of all is that it didn't have to end up that bad.” I could feel myself getting angry about it again and needed to take a breath to cool off. “The town is full of Spanish-speaking people, and one of them came to my father with that note, asking him to help them.”

Boulder nodded as I spoke, soaking up the information I was throwing at him like a sponge. It was something he was quite good at.

“Apologies if this is a dumb question, but what did they need help with exactly?” His voice was as polite as always.

“Do you remember what is directly uphill from that little town?” I asked, folding my hands on the top of the desk.

“The pile,” his accent curled around his words.

“Exactly, apparently the trash pile that my father insisted needed to be there had been killing the town’s farmland whenever it rained and their crops became poisonous.” I explained, feeling that upset rise in my chest.

He disliked my father, as most people did to be fair, but held his tongue around me for respect reasons.

I never asked him to, as hearing people outside of our family disrespect him meant much of nothing to me, but he did it anyway which I appreciated.

This was one of those moments when I knew he wanted to say something but wouldn't let himself slip.

“So what are you planning on doing then?” he asked after taking a moment to compose himself.

“I can't let them stay there on that land, not when it's already too far gone. Not to mention I don't know exactly what about it is poisonous, it could be radioactive for all I know.” I could feel a migraine coming on.

“I already have Miyoung bringing them days' worth of food every week, but I want them to be able to be independent if they so choose.”

I felt helpless trying to do this on my own, so sharing it lifted a good amount of weight off my shoulders.

“My father was an animal but I don't want them to think I don't care either you know? I have to protect them, make up for what he did.”

Boulder nodded, understanding where I was coming from.

“I want to rebuild their homes in the kingdom walls, I want to make sure they will be safe and give them land that they can farm on their own.” I explained my plan finally watching him light up.

“Let me know when to start building and I’ll gather a crew.” he stood up with a proud smile. I enjoyed knowing someone who also cared about bettering the kingdom, it was refreshing.

A knock at the door made me immediately feel defeated again.

It was always something.

“Come in,” I called, seeing June on the other side, bright and early as always.

“King Foolish, there's people here to see you this morning.”

“Who on earth is coming to a castle this early in the morning?” I grumbled and pinched my brows together in mild frustration.

Not a minute of peace. Never a minute of peace.
“King Mendo and that man from the other day.”
I paused, staring at him in fear.

“What man?” I asked hurriedly.

“The man from the town, he brought a child with him. She was pretty good at translating for me.”

“What?” I shouted a bit louder than I wanted to as I shot up from my seat.

I could see Boulder watching me wide-eyed in shock.

“Is something wrong, my lord?” he suddenly looked worried.

“Boulder, I need you to go down there right now, they cannot be in the same room together.” I ordered.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked, suddenly nervous from the rapid change in emotions.

“Take the townsman and his child somewhere, anywhere, as long as it's far away from Mendo. Just say ‘ven conmigo’ and start walking. I don't care if you bring them here, just get them away from each other!” I felt my entire body freezing and falling apart at the same time.

“And make sure the little girl didn't say anything to Mendo please dear god.” I shouted to him as he started walking away.

My heart was going a million miles a minute, I felt like I was going to faint.

“What was that?” June asked, staring at me in surprise.

“Oh my goodness, oh god I hope Mendo doesn't know anything.” I thought I was going to rip my hair out from all the stress.

“What happened, my lord? You're starting to worry me.” he looked at me in fear. “Does this have to do with the thing Princess Tina and Princess Miyoung were talking about the last time the town guy was here?” he asked hesitantly.

“What are you talking about?” I questioned, feeling a minor twinge of betrayal again.

“Well, after you left with him I was called down by Princess Tina to discuss party decorations and I overheard them talking about things.” He seemed to be beating around the bush a bit, which made me believe he knew what I was purposefully hiding.

“Probably then,” I rolled my eyes, taking a deep breath. “If you help distract Mendo while I talk to the townspeople I'll explain better.” I offered with a groan.

He took the deal and we both made our way downstairs.

I found Boulder standing outside the area of the castle where the workers stayed.

“King Foolish, come, I have them in here,” he rushed me over, taking me to the kitchen.

It wasn't a bad spot to hide them, as there was no way King Mendo would want to be seen around that of the working class.

I stepped inside and watched as my unfamiliarity with this room confused me.

I gathered the small family once I found them and herded them out of the room. We went up the stairs to the living quarters where I hid in my old room, it was easier to talk to them that way.

“I'm so sorry, I promise I can explain.” I apologized. I put one hand on Vegetta’s cheek and the other on Leo’s.

He had her in his arms, as it was easier for them to run that way.

She was a lot smaller than I remember any of my siblings being when they were eight, though it was probably just a stunt in her growth.

I saw Vegetta’s eyes shift behind me, so I turned a bit to see Boulder standing at the door and watching me in mild shock as he put a few pieces together.

I imagined June probably said something to him as well. Either way, it looked like it was as clear as day to him.

“Sir Boulder, you are dismissed.” I ordered over my shoulder.

“Are you sure, my king?” he asked hesitantly, looking back at the Spanish man.

“Dismissed means dismissed, Boulder. Thank you for your help. Wait for me at the stairs, I'll talk to you more once everything is sorted out.” I said sternly to get my point across.

He knew I didn't mean any malice towards him when speaking this way, especially when the situation was stressful.

He bowed his head with a “Yes, of course, my King.” before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

I turned back to see Vegetta staring at me with wide eyes and the pinkest cheeks I’d ever seen on him. He was flustered by something, and it looked nice on him, but I couldn't stop and gawk at him right at that moment.

“I'm sorry,” I repeated, letting them go.
“What happened?” Leo frowned at me, reaching out for me to hold her.

Her father hesitantly let me lift her in my arms. I'd never held her like this before as it wasn't my place, so I did feel honoured in a way to be allowed to do so.

“There was a bad man downstairs waiting to speak with me. You can't talk to him, ever.” I looked between her worried eyes and his.

And it was the truth. Not only did I not want Vegetta to find out about the man helplessly pursuing me, but I didn't want Mendo to find out I was helplessly pursuing Vegetta either.

It is odd for a King to want to be with a commoner in the first place, but Mendo was clear about how he wanted to make sure I chose him.

How sure he was that I’d get over my feelings and “come to my senses”.

I couldn't help but worry about what he would do if anyone stood in his way, he already had his men gun down my father.

“¿Por qué es malo?” she balled up my clothes in her small fists.

“Remember what we were talking about the other day when you gave me this?” I asked her as I raised my hand to show her the gift. She nodded, not giving away whether or not she had already told her dad about it.

“If he finds out about that he won't be happy. He'll try to make sure we never see each other again.” I explained as nicely as I could for her young mind.

Vegetta looked worried, so I held my palm to his cheek in hopes of taking the burden off of his shoulders.

“Don't worry, you can stay here until he leaves, okay?” I reassured him kindly. “I'll have my best guard watch the halls outside. I promise you will be safe.”

He let out a long drawn-out sigh, it felt like he wasn't a fan of having to settle on just my word alone.

I put Leo down gently and grabbed the other side of the man’s face, staring directly into his piercingly purple eyes.

“Vegetta, I promise, as long as you're in my kingdom, nothing will happen to you.” I wanted him to feel the intensity I felt. I wanted him to understand how serious I was. “Either of you,” I added, kneeling down and doing the same to the little one.

I promised them I'd come back after I dealt with Mendo and then slipped out of the room, moving as fast as I could in this restrictive clothing.

I passed an idle Boulder where I asked him to be and told him to relay an order to Trausi in which he needed to guard that room and protect it at all costs.

The war general wasn't getting much action without any wars to fight anyway.

When I got to the throne room I saw June chatting Mendo’s ear off, which I owed a lot to him for doing.

I made my way over to the throne as calmly as I could to make sure things weren't suspicious, sitting down and having my advisor bring him to me.

“State your business.” I put it as plainly as I could.
“King Foolish, what, I don't even get a ‘Hello, King Mendo, how are you?’ anymore?” he fake pouted.

“State your business, King Mendo.” I repeated firmly. He looked annoyed at my apparent inability to keep up with his antics, though I just didn't really care to.

“Foolish, look, I wanted to talk to you about us.” he stepped up too close to me.

“There is no us, Mendo.” I shuffled my feet and shooed him away with my hand.

“You know how I have a husband.” He completely ignored me and went on.

“Yes, I remember.” I sighed, knowing I wouldn't be able to talk to him at all.

“Well he and I will be separating soon, and I was hoping you would take his place.” he shrugged, trying to play off whatever game he was planning.
“Like, divorce?” I was more interested in the first part than the crap that came after it.

“No, he’s dying actually. Complications in surgery, it’s a long story.” he seemed to brush it off like nothing happened, which I did take note of.

“Oh, my condolences, may his resting place bloom with flowers.” I offered him a bit of sympathy. “That really is such a shame, he was much nicer than you ever were.”

“Well, I was hoping you would see the predicament I'm in and understand me more. King Foolish you're the sweetest-smelling flower I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing, and your thorns could never deter me." His random bout of poetry made me uncomfortable.

Mendo has never in our entire time of interacting with one another spouted off strange attempts at poetic lines.

I was so confused that I looked over my shoulders to make sure there weren't tommy guns or snipers pointed at me.

“Foolish, you wouldn't let a widower die alone, would you?” he did the weird fake pout again, clasping his hands together and looking up at me.

“Yes, I would actually. Your love life is none of my business and I would prefer it to stay that way.” I said before trying to dismiss him.

Before I could call June over to escort him out, his face changed to more of a sinister look.

“By the way, that man that was here earlier, how do you know him?” he asked curiously, observing my reaction closely.

I stayed as calm as I could in hopes of not giving anything away.

“He’s a good friend of Rusty Bones.” I put it simply, not wanting to go out of my element and lie about something.

“I think I've seen him by the river a few times. He's friendly. Maybe I can walk him home, make sure they get there safe.” he offered, cracking a smile as he thought of more to say.

“I wouldn't want anything to happen to my future husband’s paramour.” the words rolled off of his tongue so easily and fell from his lips like poison.

“June!” I called my right hand over, watching as he ran to my side in record time. “Get this man out of my sight. See him out of the kingdom’s walls, get him an escort home. I don't care, I want him gone.”

Mendo was escorted out of the throne room, and as soon as I knew he was far enough away, I started running as fast as I could.

This clothing was quite restrictive, being a king meant even my casual clothes were still technically a suit, and a jacket plus well-fitting pants was not very helpful when I needed to make long strides from one room to another.

By the time I got to the bedchambers again, I found my War General standing outside of the door to my old room, blocking the entrance.

“Thank you, Sir Trausi.” I sighed a breath of relief, pulling my suit jacket off and draping it over my arm.

“No problem, King Foolish.” he nodded and stepped aside for me. Before I could reach for the handle he stopped me with his hand.

“What is in there, if I may ask?” his brows upturned slightly as he looked at me.

“People, there's people in there,” I confirmed. “Oh, and if I could ask you one more favour, can you make sure King Mendo doesn't come around here? I have June escorting him out but you know how Mendo is.” I asked, pressing my palm on his shoulder.

He nodded, putting his hand on his holster once more.

“Thank you, Trausi.” I hummed, slipping into the room to see Vegetta staring out of the window and Leo lying down on the floor.

Vegetta looked at me and I immediately knew something was upsetting him.

“¡Rey Foolish!” the little one scrambled to her feet and attached herself to my leg.

“Foolish, what happened today?” he asked me sternly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Look, I'm so sorry, he is never here. He’s from another kingdom, he only came to tell me that his husband is dying.” I explained as I dragged the dead weight closer to him.

“Foolish, ¿por qué estamos aquí?” he asked me, slapping his hands against his hips in disbelief.

“I'm so sorry I just wanted to make sure you were safe, I couldn't let anything happen to you two.” I grabbed his shoulders, craving to hold him closer than usual.

We never really did anything outside of the norm when anyone else was in the room, even Leo, but I had an itch I desperately needed to scratch, and he was right there.

“You both are so important to me.” I squeezed my hold on him. He looked me over a few times, brows still sewn together tightly.

“The sun is going down, we have to start going home.” he broke his gaze away from me, splitting me into tiny shards.

“Wait, Vegetta please, I'm sorry I didn't know either of you would be here. I can't let you just leave, you haven't even told me why you're here.”
I had to pull my hands off of him before I did anything else stupid.

“Vine aquí para decirte que le dije a la ciudad quién eras. Quieren vivir aquí.” I couldn't shake the feeling that he was still unhappy with me.

“That's good, okay, I can have my people start building houses,” I tried my best to lighten the mood.

“Vamos, Leo.” the Spanish man beckoned his child toward the door. She detached from me with a pout.

“Vegetta, please, stay.” I could feel the lump in my throat growing. I felt like an idiot.

In this room, with the locked closet doors and the reminders inside of it.

The suffocating aura in the air, that choking feeling of my father’s presence around the corner or hanging on my shoulder.

I'd never felt more small, begging this man to stay until tomorrow because the fear of waking up to bad news was too great.

I was in too deep to be fine with losing either of them.

I'd burn the world down with me. With them. And knowing that I was telling the truth scared me.

“Vegetta please stay, I'll feed you, you can bathe, I'll give you clothes to go home in, there's plenty of empty rooms you could stay in.” I felt selfish.
This whole thing felt selfish.

I was selfish. I was a selfish, selfish man, but I didn't care. It was nice finally having something to myself, someone to myself.

“It’s already too dark for her to be walking out there, please. I'll let you shout at me all night if you need.” I didn't know what he was upset about and it didn't matter to me.

As long as I knew they were safe. As long as I knew they would be okay. For the first time since my coronation, things started to feel painfully real again.

Chapter Text

After they were properly fed and bathed, I helped him get Leo asleep before letting Vegetta shout his frustrations at me all night, half of which I could barely understand.

From what I did get, he was scared, he was worried, and he hated most of all that he didn't understand what was going on.

He didn't know how to protect his child because he didn't know what the problem was.

So I stayed with him, I listened to every word, and when he was done I sat him down to explain.

I explained who Mendo was, where he was from, and why I considered him dangerous.

I told him that I really wouldn't have let anything happen to him or his child, how I had my best soldier standing guard, how I made sure Mendo was escorted away.

I made it clear to him that there was nothing in this world that would've stopped me from keeping them safe, no lows too low, no highs too high.

If I felt it was an indispensable measure I would've taken it.

He thanked me, finally calm from his bout of anxiety.

When I started leaving to my room he apologized, which I immediately assured him wasn't necessary.

It took me a while to fall asleep, that feeling of nausea wouldn't go away. It felt like the ghost of my father was standing at the end of my bed, watching me in disgust.

I was walking his same path, why would he be disgusted with me? I was in his shoes, one step after another. Simultaneously fixing his problems and creating personal ones like he did, or like he tried to.

It was late into the night, as I was getting ready to finally shut my eyes, that I heard the smallest little knock in the world.

I opened my door to see Leo, rubbing her teary eyes with her fist. She pouted her lip as she looked at me.

“Hey, what's wrong?” I asked in a hushed whisper, kneeling to her level.

“Do you know where my pa is? Tuve una pesadilla.” she reached her hands up at me to hold her.

I only did so because she looked so exhausted.

I caught a glimpse of my sister “sneaking out” of her room as I carried Leo over to the room Vegetta was sleeping in.

I knocked on the door and waited for a response, surprised when it just opened for me.

“I'm sorry I know it's late, she couldn't find you.” I yawned, redirecting the attention to his child in my arms.

The door opened wider and it was only then that I realized he was just casually shirtless.

It was a hot and muggy night, his reasoning was sound, but seeing him in such a way made my mind shut down. I felt like I needed to shield my eyes but I couldn't rip them away.

I was a king in my own kingdom, I had to pull myself together and stop myself from staring at him like a foul beast with no self-control.

I handed Leo over and composed myself.

He thanked me and then tried to tuck her in. She immediately asked for me again, though was too tired to explain further when I got to her.

I gave her a little hug and watched her comfortably shuffle into a content sleep again.

As I bid him a quick good night, he stopped me halfway out of the door.

“¿Puedo tener un abrazo también?” he purred quietly.

My mind was swimming in his words, this had to be something I made up in a dream.

I sighed, opening my arms for the embrace, which he caught me by surprise again, by stealing a kiss.

In my home, with my family, with my arms wrapped around him.

I felt uneasy. I felt at peace.

“Thank you for taking care of us,” he pieced together the best he could, which warmed the pit in my stomach.

When I got to my room I fell asleep easily.

I woke up to see Tina setting up her favourite tea set on my nightstand.

“What on earth are you doing in here so early?” I grumbled as I used a pillow to shield myself from the light of day that was piercing my retinas.

“It's midday, and in case you were wondering, your lover isn't awake yet,” she mumbled the last part to me.

“What are you talking about? Don't call him that!” I warned her, surprised she would even say such a thing.

“Well then what were you doing in that room last night?” she queried, which led to a whole frenzy of my fried morning brain explaining what actually happened.

She shrugged it off, pouring me a cup of her tea.

“It really wasn't what it looked like,” I said again, sitting up and massaging the sleep out of my face.

“June and I saw you guys kiss.” I could feel as her eyes bore holes into the side of my skull.

It took me a while for my brain to come up with a response, I was still running a little slower than usual.

“Yeah we do that, from time to time, he's just really affectionate when he's tired.” I hated every word that spilled from my mouth. “Bad at lying like me.” I added.

She scoffed at my replies, handing the teacup to me carefully with an additional reminder that she knew I didn't like tea and she didn't give me much because of it.

“You haven't kissed him when you were tired though, have you?” she once again, had a narrative and couldn't let go of it.

“No, but with a dad like ours, I had to get good at hiding my feelings. That's not one of his strong suits, and I think that's admirable.” I felt a lot better about that string of words, cementing them in with a sip.

The tea was not for me, it was just hot murky water that tasted like it was filtered through some grass.

“You have a point there.” she sipped her tea with a smile, putting it back down on the tea tray so she wouldn't spill it.

“You know, I still haven't seen him properly. Not without your big head in the way,” she laughed at her own joke.

“That will probably change, you'll be seeing him a lot more.” I handed her the cup when it was empty, thanking her for sharing it with me, and she put it down.

“What do you mean ‘I'll be seeing him more’?” she looked at me suspiciously.

I swung my legs over the side of my bed and stretched, letting the sleep pop from its spot nestled between my joints.

“He and his little village town will be moving into the kingdom.” I explained as I rummaged through my wardrobe for something nice to wear.

“So he’ll be living closer?” she looked at me curiously.

“Yes, I'm contracting Boulder and his team of construction workers to get building today. Why?” I asked as I pulled out the proper attire for the occasion.

I strolled into my bathroom to freshen up and change, hearing her immediately start rummaging through things when the door closed.

“Well, you know, you'll be seeing him a lot more.” she hummed curiously.

“Yeah, that was the plan.” I didn't know where she was going with this, but I was interested as I shaved away the unattractive stubble on my face.

“You won't have any excuse to not officially invite your boyfriend to the Ball I'm hosting.” she proudly pointed out.

“He's not my boyfriend, and yeah, I guess I can invite him.” I felt my stomach drop a bit at her word choice.

“Well then what is he?” I could hear her judgemental tone from here. “Just a friend that you kiss sometimes?”

I groaned as I dressed myself.

“I don't know what we are, we never talked about it. I don't see why it matters, I don't really care.” I mumbled while buttoning up my shirt. “Not that I don't care, of course it matters to me, but I meant more like, he could tell me we were just friends and I'd still kill for him and then kiss him goodnight.”

I felt no need to try and hide that from her, especially since she literally saw it with her own two eyes.

“But last night stays between us okay?” I pulled my suit jacket on, adjusting it over my shoulders.

“And June,” she reminded me all smug-like.

“Right,” I sighed. “I'll have to talk with him.” I stepped out of the bathroom fresh and put together.

I saw the nightstand drawer open and my sister rummaging through the pages of the book inside.

“Put that back, it's our father’s.” I added as I strolled to my vanity where I sprayed cologne on my neck and down my shirt.

“No tie?” she asked me as she slapped the book closed, slipping it back into the place it came from.

“I feel like an idiot trying to tie my own tie.” I waved it off, opting to comb through my hair again instead.

I remembered last second that I'd forgotten to brush the night out of my gums. The last thing I wanted was to suffer from halitosis when talking to Vegetta, or worse, his child, who has less of a filter when talking than her dad did.

I went back to the bathroom to correct the error, making extra sure I got it all by brushing twice.

“I didn't realize this was a casual event.” she looked at my shirt collar again as I walked out, judgementally.

I rolled my eyes and went back to my wardrobe, pulling a tie off of the hook with a groan.

“Fine,” I adjusted it around my shoulders, sifting it under the collar.

Before I could even start the battle with it, a sturdy knock on my door pulled my attention elsewhere.

“You should go to your room and get dressed as well, by the by.” I hummed at her before opening the door.

Instead of June, as I anticipated, Vegetta was standing there in his clothes from the night before.

“Oh! Vegetta, ¡buenos dias!” I felt oddly nervous despite taking every measure I could to not be.

“Buenos días, Rey Foolish.” he looked down at my undone tie and immediately took it upon himself to help me.

His hands worked carefully yet quickly, I honestly didn't even know he knew how to tie a tie.

I'd never seen him even wear a suit before.

Damn, he'd look good in a suit though.

As he pulled on it to tighten the knot up to my neck, he pulled on me to bridge the gap in our small height difference and pressed a kiss on my lips again.

I felt like my mind was in full panic mode. Alarm bells immediately began to ring in my head, sounding off in my ears, I could feel my face burning up, hot to the touch.

He just laughed at me a little, which I welcomed with open arms.

“Rey Foolish, tenemos una problema otra vez,” he said before his eyes shifted to something in the distance and then back to me. “Tenemos dos problemas otra vez.” he changed his mind.

I cleared my throat and took some breaths to calm me down.

“What happened?” I asked, clearing my throat again.

“¿Quién es la chica sentada en tu cama?” he looked at me with a deceptive kindness in his eyes.

“¿Qué?” I furrowed my brow in confusion as I processed what he was asking me.

Then it clicked that he'd never met Tina before.

“No! No, no, no, no, no, no.” I shook my head in shock. “No te preocupes, ¡ella es mi otra hermana menor! Princess Tina.” I opened the door more and invited him in to get a better look at her.

I felt mortified that he even thought I would just have some random woman in my bed when he was sleeping on the other end of the hall. Even more mortified that he thought I'd do anything with my sister.

Though in his defense he didn't know she was my sister.

“Ah, perdoname, mucho gusto.” he bowed his head to her quickly before turning his attention back to me.

“The other problem?” I asked, feeling embarrassed about the whole thing.

“Ah, yes, have you seen Leo? She wasn't by me when I, desperté.” he looked at me with a hopeful smile.

“No, I haven't! Why didn't you start with that?” I grabbed his shoulders and looked at him with wild eyes. He started making sounds awkwardly as I guided him out of my room, realizing his possible jealousy took immediate control of him.

“Tina, you haven't seen his child anywhere have you?” I asked her quickly. She shook her head, sending us on a journey to find her.

I felt sick to my stomach, and my mind immediately went to the worst of the worst-case scenarios.

We went through each room, in the halls, including my mother’s old room, Miyoung’s old room, and my old room.

I checked Tina’s room again to make sure she didn't just happen to miss her, yet there was still no sign of her.

My worry started to grow, I felt like the entire world was moving in slow motion as we reached the last room at the end of the hall.

I hesitantly reached for the door handle, turning it after taking a breath.

The door cracked open and unreleased air pushed into the hallway like a vault that had been sealed for years. The gust sounded like a breath on my ears before it pulled the door open.

His door had been closed for the better half of a year give or take.

His things were still exactly where they were left. Dust had settled on each surface, coating them with age and time. It was eerie in there, much more than normal, and something about it felt like disturbing a corpse.

Except Cellbit wasn't dead. At least, I hoped he wasn't, wherever he was.

“Not in there,” I cleared my throat and closed the door again.

“What is that?” he asked, grabbing my inner elbow with a mouth shrug.

“It doesn't matter. We don't go in there,” I assured him.

We walked back the way we came when I remembered another room on the floor that she could've slipped into.

We walked as fast as we could until I saw Leo being shooed out of the door.

Her eyes stared straight in front of her like she'd seen a ghost, which wasn't too far off.

“Leo!” we both shouted as we raced to scoop her up.

Vegetta grabbed her and squeezed her into a hug. I apologized to the nurses in the room before closing the door again.

We took her back to the room they’d spent the night in and sat her down, making sure everything was okay.

“Who was that boy?” she asked me with a straight face. I stared at her, not knowing how to explain it without saying it outright.

“My little brother, Prince Quackity. He’s been very tired lately, that's why he has nurses to watch him when I'm busy.”

It took three days in total for Boulder to construct all of the houses he needed to build, and we helped escort all of the townspeople to their new homes.

Vegetta happened to live the closest to the castle, which was actually his idea surprisingly.

Or maybe it wasn't surprising, I couldn't tell with that guy anymore.

As more days passed, things got complicated. Almost everyone in the kingdom had their suspicions about my relationship with him.

Any questions about it were put to rest by both of us, as we hadn't even talked about what we considered ourselves to be.

Not only that but there was no way in hell that I was disclosing any of my personal life details with someone like the court jester.

“Oh, Brother of mine!” I heard Tina call as I started replacing the parts in the royal taxi cab.

It had been a long time since I’d seen it. Our dad took it off of the side of the train tracks when we were kids and used it as our main mode of transportation for a long while.

I don't remember when but he eventually stopped using it all altogether. I found it hidden under a tarp in the trash pile when I went to investigate it.

“Hello, sister of mine.” I huffed as I begrudgingly replaced a spark plug.

“I've decided to throw the Ball in two days so I can have the team prepare the decorations tomorrow.” she let me know ahead of time this time, thankfully.

“Oh, also, I ran into your old guy and he asked me to give you this. He told me not to read it so I did my very best.” she handed me a folded-up piece of paper.

“Stop calling him that,” I grumbled as I opened it up.

I found it had familiar handwriting on it, but not Vegetta’s.

”I assume you didn't get my first few letters, so I've tacked this to your front door.
I suggest you learn your place before I have to teach it to you. I'm not against using force or gaining leverage, though I have a feeling that my love has already warned you about that.
— Your Future King, Mendo”

I felt my heart sink.

Of all the times I’d ever talked with Mendo, this didn't seem like him at all. I knew he tended to create his own boundaries on top of other people's, but I wasn't expecting him to take such a leap as to come here and threaten people on my behalf.

“Where did you last see him?” I asked, feeling my breath catch in my throat.

“He was by Miyoung’s farm getting his little basket for the morning.” she looked confused.

“Did he have Leo with him?” I refrained from touching her with my greasy hands.

“Foolish you're starting to scare me,” she was visibly uncomfortable.

“Yeah because I'm about to freak the fuck out! Was Leo with him or not?” I needed her to just answer my damn question.

“No! I don't think so? I think he said she was at home.” she raised her hands as if backing off.

“Fuck! I need you to go find him now. I have to get Leo.” I ordered before running off before she could stall me further.

This was such a random thing to suddenly be thrown into, I felt like my skin was made of fire, cinging every hair on my body and melting me down to bone.

When I said I'd burn the world for them I meant it. When I told Vegetta that there were no lows too low for them I meant it.

Mendo was overstepping, and he’s gotten too comfortable doing so.

I've let a lot of things happen to me, but this was something I'd be a fool for entertaining.

I knew we had a peace treaty, and for that, I'd be grateful for his agreeance, but that was exactly where that path began and stopped.

I ran until my legs took me to my armory. I swiped a tommy gun out of the storage and then continued running.

I couldn't just let him threaten an innocent family over unrequited love. I couldn't let him threaten me like that anymore either. I needed some self-respect. I needed to show him that his disregard for me as anything but my looks had consequences.

When I got to their front door I put in the password we had set up and slammed it behind me.

“Leo?” I shouted for her. “Are you in here?” I called again as I looked around each room, washing my hands off in their sink so I wouldn't cover her in car grime.

“Leo, I have Princess Tina getting your pa,” I said quickly as I wiped my hands on a towel.

I made strides to the rest of the rooms, looking under tables and in cabinets as I passed each room.

I found her hidden under her father’s bed, where I immediately fell to my knees and gathered her in my arms.

“I saw him in the window.” she whispered, clawing at the back of my shirt to pull me closer.

Chapter Text

Pages and pages of poison.

Venomous words that I could hear in his voice scrawled into the paper.

The man who burned everything he wanted to hide, who got rid of the evidence as fast as he gained it, leaving this book in his bedside drawer before throwing himself into battle.

He wanted me to find this.

I know he wanted me to find this.

It felt nauseating to scan through the pages and see his thoughts.

I had spent my entire life standing by his actions, as painful or brutal as they could get. I wanted to protect his image, to respect him even through the hardships and emotional turmoil, all for him to have nothing but hatefulness in his mind.

The painful revulsion that was dripping out of each sentence felt like another piece of glass stuck in my esophagus.

I wanted to burn this book but I couldn't stop reading.

His hate for me, my brothers, my sister.

The only ones he referred to positively were Miyoung and our mother.

I was the worst of us all. A thorn in the hedge, an unsightly blemish to the family name.

He wanted me dead, he found me disgusting, called me vile things because of complications out of my control. Because I was a difficult delivery.

From the moment I was birthed he was convinced I'd poisoned our family tree. He was glad I never seemed interested in others because if I didn't reproduce an heir I could never spread the root rot.

My father, the man I held in high regard, had nothing but wickedness in his blackened heart for me.

He hated me and the men who were interested in me, though he seemed more upset that they were even men in the first place, which came as a surprise to me as I didn't take him for the type.

He hated my refusal to be rugged and rough around the edges.

He knew I hated this life and so he decided to give it to me. He knew his favourite child was self-sufficient enough to exist on her own.

Without the kingdom, without my rule.

He knew from the moment his beloved wife had taken her life that he would finally repay all of the hate in his heart for me, and he would repay it tenfold.

So as I sit here, on his crappy bedding with this horrid book in my hand, I realized that I was never trained for this role for a reason.

He wanted me to learn this on my own, and I was okay with that because my father would have raised a demon otherwise.

His fear of everything I was, of everything Tina, Quackity, and Cellbit were, was something that I knew haunted him until his last moments.

I couldn't live in fear, even as hard of a change as it would be, because it wasn't feelings that spoiled our kingdom to rot, it was my father.

His inability to be kind, his fear of both the unknown and the brand new. He lived in such constant fear of everyone around him that he let it turn him hateful.

I wouldn't let myself turn into that. I had to use my head, to think clearly, to protect myself and those around me.

Because the things that happened to me and my siblings weren't out of love. They weren't even out of need.

And now that I was King of Rusty Bones it was my job to fix everything he’d ever done to me. To nurture myself and let us all grow.

The rot wasn't me, it was my father. It had always been my father, and he was too afraid to put the mirror up to himself to see his flaws.

The man was dead, his words had no meaning anymore.

Just wasted time, wasted air. He wasted his life by being unnecessarily hateful to the people who needed him the most.

He was dead and I could no longer give his words any meaning.

A knock on my door pulled me out of both my thoughts and the pages.

It was early in the morning, but today was a very important day.

The day of every royal celebration had people running around frantically for last-minute changes and preparations for the night.

I slid the book back into its drawer, a place it should never leave again, and took a deep breath before going to greet whoever was on the other side.

I opened it to find my advisor, as visibly tired as ever, standing there with a half smile.

“Good morning, June.” I managed to let out after clearing my throat of the pain.

“Good morning, my Lord. I wanted to make sure you were awake, but it seems there's someone on their way to see you.” he looked out toward the hall.

“Who?” I stupidly asked, still recovering from my haze.

“Your townsman, my King,” he explained as he nodded to the man of every hour.

“Don't call him that, he has a name.” I adjusted myself to look as presentable as I could in my unattractive nightwear.

“You have my word,” he teased before leaving me with the Spanish man at my door.

After the note had been tacked on his door, I begged Vegetta to move him and his daughter into the castle where he could be protected better.

I felt much more at ease with Leo staying in Miyoung’s old room and him staying in mine.

“Come in,” I stepped aside, though, inviting him into my bedchambers alone like this felt strange.

“Rey Foolich, ¿por qué estabas llorando?” He grabbed my face in his sturdy calloused palms and swiped the pads of his thumbs across the apples of my cheeks.

It wasn't until then that I realized I was unattractively puffy and red in the face from the hot tears I hadn't noticed had spilled.

“Don't worry about it,” I replied with a soft smile, hoping he would move on.

Thankfully he knew me pretty well by now and didn't press any further.

“La Princesa, she invited me and Leo to the, baile.” he looked at me shyly as he thought of the word and failed, taking his hands back to fidget with them.

“Oh yes, I asked her to just in case I forgot,” I admitted sheepishly, slipping away to my wardrobe to grab my special occasion attire.

“You want me there?” he sounded surprised for some reason.

“Of course I do, but you don't have to be there if you don't want to.” I hummed the reassurance. I couldn't tell what he wanted.

“Estaré allí,” he rushed, seeming more confident than he had before. I assumed it meant he was coming as he stepped closer with a smile.

I hung my outfit on my headboard and displayed it on the bed.

“No tengo ropa para el evento,” he added as he watched me move around my room. I could feel his stare covering me in calmness.

“I could help you find something.” I offered over my shoulder as I went through my vanity for the cufflinks that matched the clothes I was given for the occasion.

He hesitantly stepped closer to me again with a sheepish look about him.

“I've never gone to a big party before,” he admitted, big purple irises staring nervous holes into my reflection in the mirror.

I turned around, hesitantly reached for his hand, and connected our gaze with a warm smile.

“I'll be there the whole time,” I reassured him.

I wanted to show Vegetta the same kindness he’d forever given me.

Well, the kindness he gave me after the kidnapping.

He hugged my shoulders and I could feel my inner consciousness begging him to never let go.

I was waiting for Tina as she looked over the decorations and the way we were all dressed. Waiting for her to give me the okay so I could order the castle doors to be opened.

She moved frantically around the room, checking in with the caterer and the band.

She came up to me periodically to fix my collar a few times more than I think she knew.

“Tina, I think everything is fine, the longer we stall the colder your food will be.” I watched as she straightened out a tablecloth.

I didn't even know this kind of event served food, but I guess it served as a testament to how well we’d been doing since securing the peace treaty.

She took in a deep breath as she walked over to me again and flattened out the wrinkles on my shoulders.

“Let them in.” she finally huffed, putting her hands to her side and taking her place.

“Shacky, open the gates!” I called as I sat on my throne. Big fancy chair felt more like a shitty bragging right than anything, but everything had to be perfect.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” he bowed his head before calling the guards at the gates below.

Tina had guests from other kingdoms in on the festivities, it was a good way of keeping them on good terms with us.

When I had him open the doors, the room filled with people of all kinds and the music began playing.

Socializing, people came up to me asking for my thoughts and blessings, picking my brain with questions, and complimenting my kingdom for prospering in the face of so much evil.

It was after a while that I remembered why I felt such disdain for these events.

It's a lot of standing, talking, crowded spaces despite the pool of people inside being mostly noblemen and higher-status people.

I wanted to find my guests of honour. I was worried they’d be bombarded with information and questions from nosey people and wouldn't know how to deal with them or respond.

Plus, I hadn't seen Vegetta since I handed off the clothes to him and Leo.

“King Foolish!” I heard an unfortunately familiar voice behind me and felt an uncomfortably dainty hand grab my shoulder.

Though the bullet wound had been healed and scarred for quite some time already, his touch sent a shock through my arm that made me immediately pull away.

A crowd around us formed quite quickly, everyone here probably already knew where an interaction between King Mendo and I was going, and I knew that smug glint in his eye better than anyone.

Tina told me she hadn't invited anyone from his kingdom, and yet somehow, for some reason, he was here.

He knew my guest of honour was probably somewhere in this crowd, and I knew he was bold enough to pull a stunt like this in front of him.

He got down on his knee, to my dismay, and pulled out that same shitty ring.

“King Foolish, would you make me the happiest man alive and unite our kingdoms once and for all?” the corners of his mouth turned upward in a menacing grin.

I pulled the train of my robes back into place and placed my palm on my abdomen. I wanted to keep my cool, as I could feel my need to backhand him growing.

“Mendo, stand up, you're making a fool of yourself.” I put it simply, keeping myself as professional as I could.

He stayed there for a moment as the people around us giggled and whispered.

“Come on, give me a chance.” he raised the box higher as if that would convince me. As if that would take away the threats he sent Vegetta and Leo.

I could feel the disgust curl its way onto my face uncontrollably.

“It would do me an incredible injustice to marry you in any lifetime.” I shook my head and shooed him off with my hand. “Have some decorum, please.”

He closed the box, stood up, and swept some dust off his knee. I stood my ground and waited for him to walk off with his tail between his legs like always.

The people that had gathered here were laughing amongst themselves at the sight of yet another “unsuccessful King Mendo proposal”.

A good portion of them had probably already heard the “rumours” of whatever I had with the townsman. I know they had spread pretty far down the grapevine.

And speaking of him, I still wanted to try and find him and his child before the night got too old.

I carded my way through the guests in search of his kind yet daunting eyes.

I wanted to see how they looked tonight, wanted to make sure they were enjoying themselves.

I wanted them to be comfortable here in their home. When I finally found him I saw him standing with my sister by a window in the hallway. Leo was holding Tina’s hand as they all discussed something together.

“Vegetta, Leo, I've been looking for you all night,” I smiled as I made my way towards them.

He sent me a look that said he was not enjoying the ball so far, and Tina quickly grabbed tired Leo in her pretty little purple dress and carried her off toward the staircase, giving me time alone with the child’s father.

I stepped to him cautiously, taking his hands in mine.

“Is everything okay?” I asked as kindly as I could, concerned at everything that set up this interaction so far.

He looked theatrically out the window and took his hands back, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I saw the man,” he sighed in a way that made me feel uneasy.

“Oh, are you okay?” I felt weird not holding a part of him closer to me.

He looked me up and down with his jaw jut out and exhaled a dramatic breath. I could feel eyes peering into the back of my head from stragglers who wanted more gossip to eat up.

“Deberías casarte con él. Haz de él tu marido.” his voice sounded solemn.

I grabbed his elbow, trying to keep him from slipping through my fingers like loose particles of sand.

“Foolish, you are King. I am what? A farmer? No seas ridículo.” he looked down at himself. “No pertenezco aquí,”

I could feel more eyes scorching holes into my skin, breaking me down, seeing through my bones and into my vulnerable points.

They could pick out each of my flaws and pull me apart like the vultures they were. Eyeing me and my weaknesses like fresh meat strewn about the grass.

“Vegetta, you belong here because I invited you here, don't listen to Mendo, es un idiota.” I tried to reassure him.

My father’s fears couldn't be mine anymore, right? His words had no meaning.

I wouldn't let them have meaning.

I couldn't.

“King Foolish, save your people, forget me.” he frowned, hesitantly reaching his hand to my face.

I felt a pit form in my stomach when his palm landed on my shoulder instead.

Why did they still mean something to me?

“Vegetta, please, drop this. Podemos hablar de esto más tarde.” I hummed, looking over my shoulder to see eyes of all colours, watching me like headlights.

I felt like a deer, like I'd been dragged across the pavement by the bumper, like my body was a mangled mess for everyone in the car to see.

“Foolish, estaré bien,” he tried to offer but it wasn't good enough.

Him being a friend wasn't good enough.

“I mean it, let's talk about this later, please, I don't want to make a bigger scene at Princess Tina’s party,” I begged as calmly as a man could beg.

“¿Por qué no me dejas ir? Prometo, I'm okay.” his hand squeezed my shoulder softly. I craved his closeness in such a time of strange hurt.

It was nothing, the proposal was nothing.

All of my fingers subconsciously snaked up to the sides of his face. Holding him so he looked at me, really looked at me.

“Vegetta why would I marry Mendo when I have you?” felt my guts coming up, I'd spill every thought in my head if it meant he let go of this silly idea. “I don't want him, even before I knew you I didn't want him.”

His eyes widened as he processed my words.

“¿Qué estás diciendo?” he scoffed as if there was a chance I could've lied about it. “Do you hear yourself?” he was prodding for something and a part of me was willing to hand it over.

The part of me that silenced it wondered though, what if there was a reason my father didn't want anyone to know about his dears?

“I do hear myself, Vegetta, and I want you to forget about Mendo because I love you. There will never be another because I don't want another!” I watched as purple irises shifted between mine.

My face went red hot and then flushed as I remembered there was a crowd behind me.

A group of people ready to report on my every action, word of my confession would certainly get back to Mendo, and lord only knows what dangers he would unleash when he heard about it.

Before I knew it, my feet were carrying me swiftly away. I was making strides up the stairs, leaving my own party, and most importantly leaving Vegetta behind.

I felt like I let myself, mangled and exposed, bleed my words into the grass. My guts spilled for everyone to see, my emotions, as raw as they'd ever been, hurling from my mouth like hail falling from the sky.

It felt like salt in an open wound, too big to not hurt but not fresh enough to fester. I was a grown man as much as I was still just a boy.

Still the boy who was so afraid that loving things made him weak, that enjoying things made him an idiot, and that sharing his passion was foolish.

Because I was, and always will be, Foolish.

Chapter Text

Now that I wasn't spending every waking moment obsessing over a man, I found myself working on something I'd been putting off for a while.

War plans

After the peace treaty was up we were going to need a lot of things, equipment, medicine, and fortresses.

We would need even more of all of it if we were going to be making checkpoints as well.

So I worked, I sat in my study and worked until I couldn't see much else to do.

The distance between Vegetta and I grew, to my dismay, but maybe it was safer for him to not be associated with me.

At least not as closely associated.

I did crave afternoons in his cologne, playing house with his child, and watching her chase butterflies in the garden while he and I talked hand in hand.

I missed him and his presence, and now the whole world knew how I felt about him.

Letting go of the power that fear had over me proved to be much harder than I thought as well.

Nothing even held a candle to the nightmares I had following the night of my confession.

Nightmares of my father calling me repulsive and coming into my room to strangle me in my sleep, I wake up coughing with tears that leave trails down my cheeks and a headache with enough pressure to pound a rock into a diamond.

But I was tired, and avoiding the nightmares meant my body kept me up at night so that it could take some much-needed time to recover.

So tonight, as I felt drowsiness dissipate throughout my body, my legs carried me to that decorative grand piano.

The ivory keys felt smooth and cold as I ran the pad of my finger gently across them. When I sat on the piano bench I felt a weight lift from my shoulders.

The stress of confession, plans, and running the kingdom, fluttering away like butterflies released from captivity.

I pushed down on one of the keys, breaking it from the layer of dust that was making it stick to the others.

I supposed it had been a while since the last time I found myself here.

I started, my soul, taking over my muscles and playing through me. I relayed my anguish and burden onto the instrument, letting it tell my stories, letting it cry my tears and feel my sorrow.

And I pressed my anger into the keys, letting this out-of-tune hunk of junk understand my stress and frustrations.

And I coddled the piano in my kindness, reminding both it and myself that change happens and life is what you make of it.

I played until I was drowsy, and then I played more.

Each note began to slur with my exhaustion.

It wasn't until Tina came downstairs to bring me back to bed, like a senile old man, that I even considered sleeping.

“You've been avoiding something.” her mild annoyance curled around her words.

“I know, I've been meaning to wrangle up Boulder and Trausi to remake all of the codes together, I promise. I just haven't gotten the chance to talk with them.” I huffed, scratching my forehead on thought as I read over the piece of paper in front of me.

“You know I'm not talking about that.” she crossed her arms over her chest.

I paused for a moment, of course I knew what she was talking about. Who she was talking about.

“Vegetta and Leo miss you, he thinks it's his fault that you ran away,” she explained with a frown.

Her words stung a bit, I never wanted him to think it was all his fault, though if he had just dropped it and let me tell him in private maybe none of this would have happened.

Running out was entirely my idea, and it was only fueled by the people who were staring into my soul.

“I'm sure he’ll understand.” I dismissed it hesitantly, slipping the note into an envelope and standing up to deliver it to my messenger.

As I made my way around my desk she grabbed my elbow and stopped me from leaving her in the study like that.

“Foolish he doesn’t understand, that's why he’s been asking me to talk to you.” she held her grip on my arm with no intentions of letting go until she heard what she wanted.

“He asked you to talk to me?” I asked as if I couldn't believe it, but I had just left him with no word between us right after confessing.

I knew it was selfish, and a big part of me hated it, but my fear still had a bit of a grip on me.

I must have been ignoring what she said because her open hand landed a sharp blow on my cheek, slapping me back into my surroundings.

“You're acting like our father,” she grumbled. “Hiding behind war instead of facing life like a man.” she crossed her arms over her chest again.

“Brother, there are people out there who love you and appreciate your guidance.” she reminded me with a scowl.

I cleared my throat, straightening out my posture as my brain finished processing the information.

“He misses you, brother.” she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger as a way to keep her hands occupied.

I let her words sink in, I missed him too.

A knock at the door startled us both.

“Come in, sir June.” I coughed, recognizing the sound of his knuckles somehow.

He came in with a tired look on his face.

“My Lord, there's someone who wants to talk with you. He's coming up the stairs,” he warned. “Also Miyoung is coming up to watch,” he added after looking over his shoulder for a moment.

We shuffled out of the study to see Vegetta dragging Leo behind him, she was having a difficult time keeping up with him.

I handed June the letter with specific instructions to give it to the Royal Messenger. I wanted it out of my hands for this conversation.

When we met face to face again his hand raised as if he was going to hit me. I closed my eyes to brace for it, but when it never came I opened them again. His hand was folding to the hesitation, eventually falling back to his abdomen.

“Foolish, ¿por qué me dijiste eso si ibas a dejar de verme?” he looked like he was past the point of crying, yet sparkling tears were beading on his eyelashes.

“Vegetta, I'm sorry, lo siento. It's not your fault.” I reached out to hold him but he jerked himself away. He didn't want any consoling now, he wanted an explanation.

“Bueno, ¿era la verdad o mentiste para callarme?” he took a deep breath to calm himself, letting go of his child. “Did you lie to me?” he asked, correcting the frown that kept tugging at his face.

“No! No, no! It's the truth! Te amo más que todo el mundo,” I shook my head, grabbing his shoulders and looking him in the eye.

“But I,” my voice caught in my throat. “Tengo miedo.” I swallowed hard.

“¿Miedo de qué?” he tucked a stray hair behind my ear.

“You both could be in so much danger, we already have that guy threatening you.” I grabbed his shirt. “What if you get hurt?”

He looked at me, his misty eyes melting away.

“What if?” he repeated as if it didn't matter. “Rey Foolish, it was more dangerous to say and then never see me.” he pointed out with a confused shake of his head.

He had a point.

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I didn't come see you. I should've.” I knew I was begging him for forgiveness in front of my siblings and my right hand, but I didn't care. I was as desperate as desperate could be.

“Foolish,” he tried to stop me, but I continued.

“I'm sorry, I think I'm just afraid of being happy, to be honest.” I added, watching him struggle between frustration and smiling.

He let me rattle off more and more words mindlessly before grabbing my face and kissing me on the corner of my mouth.

A bit cliché, but I'd let him do it any day he wanted.

“Basta ya, Rey Foolish.” he said, calm enough to make me blush harder than I already was. It also worked in effectively shutting me up.

I had no words to say, how do you even follow up on something like that anyway? Plus, there was a whole hallway full of people including our families and my staff.

I can't drag him into another room to finish our conversation, everyone would get the wrong idea.

I swallowed the thoughts down, kissing him again on my terms, and pulling him into a hug.

“Thank you,” I mumbled against his shoulder.

Maybe things would be okay.

Chapter Text

Now that Vegetta and I had finally cleared the air, things felt normal.

It was like the weight on my shoulders had lifted.

Though, that's not to say I wasn't still stressed.

I was still the king after all, so when I slipped away to visit the little family, I was met with suspicious looks and suggestive glances.

I felt like myself again though, and I no longer spent every waking moment worried about whether or not I was failing my kingdom by not doing enough.

I could take one hundred glares from my people as I walk to that little wooden cabin with a smile if it meant I could lead my people with my chin up.

That was, until I woke up to chaotic screams of terror outside.

There was banging on my door, like someone was trying to bust their way in forcefully.

I felt like my heart was being pulled out of my chest, I was sure I'd throw up.

Whoever was on the other side successfully rammed their way into my room, and instantly a swarm of people filled my space.

“That's him! The King of Rusty Bones!” someone with their face covered garbled in a poorly disguised accent.

“Get ‘em! Leave the rest! He's the most expensive item in here!” another said, his voice commanding the charge.

Big calloused hands wrapped around my ankles and started pulling me off the bed, though I made it harder for them in an attempt to reach for the revolver that Boulder had given me.

Once I pulled it out of my bedside drawer, I was able to shoot a bullet into someone's arm before someone else came and ripped it away from me.

They pulled me onto my feet and handcuffed my hands behind my back, something that was all too familiar now, though I got the feeling that there wouldn't be a handsome Spanish man with a problem for me to solve at the other end of this journey.

“Wait!” I shouted, successfully quieting them down. “Can I at least cover up? I don't want to be seen in my undergarments.” I cleared my throat and looked away in mild embarrassment.

“Alright, have them grab you a coat or something.” the leader of the pack shrugged it off and tilted his chin toward the wardrobe. “I know we’re kidnapping you but we’re not monsters.”

His words rang in my ears as I pointed my shoulder to something I knew would be recognizable.

My cloak, the one of a kind, the thing I used to take my rations to my last kidnapper.

The guys threw it on me, making sure I was fully concealed after realizing it was quite convenient for them, and they started pulling me out into the hall.

The sounds got louder as we made our way toward the back door of the castle.

I struggled a bit, feeling crushed by the weight of the world when the barrel of a semi-automatic pistol pressed into my side.

“Don't say a word,” the man mumbled into my ear, causing an uncomfortable shiver to slither up my spine.

There was gunfire everywhere and people running all around. Houses were destroyed, some on fire. The whole kingdom looked in disarray.

And prematurely planted in the grass was a flag with a familiar picture of a rose on it.

The Kingdom of Thornridge had broken the peace treaty days before it ended.

I was sure I knew why.

I was silent for most of my journey, even though the sounds of gunfire were all around.

Truth was, I hoped that I would be able to break out of the cuffs without everyone noticing before we even. Rounded the corner of the second gate.

It took me quite a while longer, but my escape plan worked much better this way.

They had put me on a horse quite some time ago, and the man driving it was a bit of a bumbling fool, which was rich of a title coming from me.

But I knew how to ride horses, much better than the guy in front of me at least.

We were following a car that didn't have enough room to seat us all safely, and since they didn't want to “damage the goods” they kept me on my own.

And though a few months ago I would have seen this kind of thing through, I couldn't let these people whisk me away right now, not while my entire family was in danger back home.

I managed to break the cuffs apart, covering the sound the best I could with a cough. Upon freeing myself I tried to act as casual as possible, the last thing I wanted was to give away my plans.

I dug my heels into the sides of the horse, turning it way out of control, and making it gallop in crazy directions to both confuse and distract the rest of the group.

Once we were far enough away from the others I pulled the gun out and shot my captor in the ankle, pushing him off the side of the horse and riding it back toward the castle.

I had to get back and help my people, I didn't care if I ended up in another pair of cuffs, I needed to be there.

I needed to know my family and friends were okay, I don't think I could live with myself if I'd spent an entire battle asleep in my bedchambers.

When I got back to the gates I rode straight into the thick of it. I did my best to stay concealed under the cloak, as I navigated to the armory.

I slipped inside and grabbed as much gear as I could carry in the spare backpack I grabbed and immediately ventured to Vegetta’s house.

I don't know what I'd do if Leo was injured, or worse.

I knocked on the door, desperate for a response on the other side.

“Vegetta! Leo! Please tell me you're okay,” I started before the door swung open.

I was immediately pulled inside and gathered into a hug. His scent blanketed over me in a way that eased a lot of the tension in my chest.

“I need you two to come with me,” I said as I pulled away from him. When Leo poked her head around the doorway I gathered her in my arms.

I handed her to her father and pulled my cloak off, covering them up with it instead.

I herded them to the castle, shuffling up the stairs to the living quarters again. I made a quick pitstop to my room so I could grab a proper pair of pants and other things I needed before carding them into my old room again.

“I need you to stay here okay? I have to go out there and help.” I let out a heavy exhale once they got settled.

He didn't quite understand me fully until I was turning to walk out of the room.

He grabbed my arm pulling me back. He grabbed my face, staring into my soul with those piercing eyes.

“No, quédate aquí. Podrías morir ahí fuera.” he spoke sternly.

I felt one side of my mouth tug into a frown, putting my palms on his shoulders.

“Vegetta, I have to go help my people.” I tried my best to give him a kind smile, I wanted nothing more than for him to understand.

His brow furrowed and his hold on me tightened.

“Foolish, if you love me, you don't go!” he swallowed, giving away the fear that was bubbling in his chest.

I understood his anxiety, he lost one of his loves already, but I had a duty to fulfill.

“Of course I love you, Vegetta.” I pressed a kiss onto his lips, breaking out of his hold as it softened. “That's why I have to go.”

I slipped out of the room and locked the door behind me.

Surely he would understand. Even if it took time.

I ran out of the castle with my guns ready for use. I wasn't built for fighting.

But I had to, the screaming, the blood, thankfully it seemed people were already retreating in groups, but the stragglers were what worried me the most.

“King Foolish!” June called from my sister’s old safe house. “You should go sit on your throne, we have captives for you to interrogate.”

I took a deep breath, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I walked out on Vegetta again.

When I got to my throne, June went back to fetch his mentioned “captives”.

I took a breath to try and regulate my thoughts, I needed a level head going into this, something that was definitely not happening.

The room was silent as I gathered my composure until the distant pitter-patter of bare feet smacking against the floor started coming closer.

An oddly familiar face came sprinting into the throne room from the hallway. They were in nothing but a backpack and underwear.

He silently ran up to my throne and pulled out a tommy gun, aiming it at me.

I pulled my gun out as well, not fast enough to avoid getting nicked by a bullet, but I had no other choice than to shoot him.

“He tried to kill me,” I let out a shaky breath. I felt sick at the sight. I felt my whole body quivering in shock after such a bold assassination attempt.

The group of my men and their prisoners ran into the castle doors and saw me standing over the dead man.

I still couldn't think of where I remembered his face from, and I wasn't sure if I was in a state to either.

“King Foolish, are you okay?” June looked at me, rushing to my side and then staring at the dead man.

“Yeah I think, he just started shooting I didn't know what to do.” I cleared my throat, straightening my collar out.

“Shit, Trausi, go take these guys to the prison, Mammoth should be done fixing it up by now.” June ordered quickly before pulling stuff out of his bag.

He had the other men carry the body out of the castle while he patched me up, I hadn't noticed but the hit I initially took as just a graze was actually a bullet hole in my other shoulder.

“That guy looked so familiar, I couldn't think of his name,” I said, distracting myself from the pain of antiseptic being doused on my wound.

“You mangled his face pretty well but I’m pretty sure that was Coconut. We lost sight of him when fighting early on and assumed he was looting a house somewhere.” he sighed, shaking his head.

There was a pause of silence between us as he wrapped me up.

It seemed I was too late, and the battle had already been mostly over by the time I was back from my great escape.

It must have looked like a lot was happening because I was at the only exit of the kingdom.

“Did we win?” I asked, wincing as he dabbed my shoulder with a cloth.

He nodded simply, clearly tired after everything.

“At least he evened out my shoulders,” I half shrugged.

We shared a chuckle over it before I begged him to hurry up so I could speak with Vegetta again.

I know he'll be mad at me, but he won't have any choice but to stay here for a few days if he doesn't want to traumatize his child.

If she wasn't traumatized already.

Chapter Text

My footsteps felt heavy as I trudged up the stairs.

I was dreading to find out what was waiting for me on the other side of the door.

He was worried about me, and I imagine being locked in a foreign room for an unknown amount of time didn't help much either.

I hated that things couldn't just smoothen out once I cleared it all up. I hated that I couldn't have even a full week of calmness before a storm.

I hated that I spent all that time living in fear just for everything to keep crumbling away.

I was supposed to be walking around with my head held high. I was supposed to be putting my best foot forward and leading this kingdom to prosperity.

The peace treaty bought us time, but them breaking it and killing my men meant the war I had been preparing for was coming sooner than I thought.

It meant I had to keep them closer than I had before.

I skimmed through the keys on the ring for the one that unlocked my old bedroom door, ready for the man to freak out.

Even if not now, he would understand in time. He had to.

I slipped the key into the door and opened it, slinking inside and closing the door behind me.

The Spanish man was sitting on the old dusty bed and his child was beside him rubbing his back to comfort him.

“Vegetta,” I chimed, watching as they turned around.

His eyes were red from tears and his brows were quite furrowed. Lips pulled into a scowl that I never wanted to see again.

Little Leo’s face went from sudden excitement to anger, then sadness. She was so young, this was probably all so much for her.

“I’m sorry. I needed to make sure everyone was okay. My kingdom, our friends, my family.” I stepped forward.

He rose to his feet and wiped his tears on the inside of his sleeve, fixing his posture to stand tall.

“You left,” he stated with that stern look he would shoot Leo when she didn't eat her vegetables.

“I had to,” I reached my better arm toward him.

I craved his closeness.

I was almost just assassinated on my throne.

“I said ‘If you love me you don't leave’ and you left. ¿Por qué te fuiste?” he muttered and his jaw was taut with anger.

“My family Vegetta, I had to find them!” I repeated, praying he would understand.

I needed him to understand it wasn't to say I didn't love him. His neighbours from the old village town at the bottom of the hill. The guards I trust the most in keeping me and my loved ones safe.

“I love you Vegetta, I adore Leo, that's why I kept you both safe in here.” I pressed my palm to his stubble-covered cheek.

“Rey Foolish,” he was clearly trying to stay angry, and a part of me wanted him to.

“I know I left, it's my job as a king to protect my people.” I felt the early budding of tears begin to mist my eyelashes.

If he knew I had been taken from my bed at gunpoint, escaped captivity to see him, locked him in here to check on everyone.

I had no choice! By the time I got him tucked away, everyone was already done battling for the most part.

His hand rested on my injured shoulder, and the sudden jolt of pain made my face twitch for a moment.

His arm recoiled almost as fast as it made contact.

“¿Qué ha ocurrido? ¿Estás herido?” he asked sternly.

I didn't know what to say, I couldn't lie. Not when he was already upset with me.

“Someone snuck into the castle after the battle ended,” I explained in as little detail as I could. I didn't want the child to be scarred for life.

This place was magical for her, and even with the few scary times, I wanted her to know this could still be wonderful for her.

“Let me look.” he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at where his hand had landed.

“Not in front of Leo,” I mumbled, looking over the beads of purple staring at me with fear.

He looked at her as well, her little mouth curled into a weak smile.

“Mija, ve a la pared y cuenta los puntos.” he pointed to the wallpaper with an intricate design.

She got up from the bed and turned to do as asked.

He then stared at me with those piercing eyes of his.

I began unbuttoning the layers of clothes that covered up my bandaged wound, eventually getting his help with pushing the cloth out of the way.

The damned thing was still a little bloody, but I couldn't focus with all the closeness distracting me. I could feel his quiet breath billowing on my skin. His hand brushed over the bandage softly.

The goosebumps that pricked my skin, I decided, were because of the cool air hitting the bloody wrapping.

“Ese es el karma por dejarme después de que te di un ultimátum.” he grumbled, helping me cover my shoulder back up.

“I know, you can hate me if you want, we can talk about it more another time.” I wanted to pull him close and show him that I care. I love him, I really do.

And I didn't go through a whole personal growth journey to admit it out loud just to let him walk away.

“Es difícil estar enfadado contigo.” he crossed his arms over his chest and his face softened a bit. “You are a good King.”

Calloused palms rested on the back of my neck, thumbs tracing circles into my skin fondly.

Purple eyes looked at me in fear, floating around my features like a paintbrush swiping strokes of colour on a canvas.

All traces of aggravation dissipated into thin air with each calm and quiet breath exchanged between us.

“Pa, ¿puedo dejar de mirar la pared?” Leo chimed in suddenly, shattering the moment as quickly as it formed.

“¡Ay, sí! ¡Por supuesto! Perdóname, hija mía.” he mumbled through a sheepish grin.

His arms left my orbit and colour bloomed into his face as he took a step back.

I carried Leo to the room she was staying in since she’d gotten tired enough to ask me after dinner.

Her father tried insisting he take her but her mind had already been made up.

Vegetta trailed close behind me up the stairs. As much as he trusted me he still loved his child more than the world, and I couldn't blame him.

As we approached the door, her father opened it up for me. I rubbed the space between her shoulder blades as I approached the bed.

“Sientate,” I mumbled the word that I had picked up from her father as I lowered her onto the edge of the bed.

I walked out into the hall, giving a small nod to the man as if to tell him my work was finished.

When I stepped aside, letting him slip into the room, his palm landed on the inside of my elbow, stopping me from going too far.

“Por favor, wait for me, necesitamos hablar más.” He hesitantly reached for my face, drawing what I was sure was a heart into the apple of my cheek with the pad of his thumb.

He slipped into the room quicker than his calloused palm made contact.

So I stood there in the hall, taking orders like a damn dog. Honestly, I didn't really care.

My hands fiddled with themselves at my waist, keeping busy while I stood there staring at the wall on the other end of the living quarters.

I saw my sister’s ladies-in-waiting walking into her room with a hot water bottle and a bucket of other things.

I could only imagine what happened.

The Spanish man soon slipped out from the door and closed it behind him quietly. Then he grabbed my hand and we quietly walked to the room he'd been using.

The door closed behind us and I watched him sit down on the edge of the bed with a straight face. This whole situation was quite unreadable, and I had no idea what he could possibly say to me right now.

“Rey Foolish,” he hummed, patting the spot beside him as an invitation to join.

I did so carefully, nervousness slowly rising in my body like the unnerving waves in the water.

“You-” he started, trying his best with all of his learned English. “You hurt me when I say to you not to go, and then you go.” he looked more confident when speaking now, which would have filled my heart with more glee if his words hadn't stung.

“I know but-” a hand on my mouth stopped me, which startled me enough to not even fight back.

“Me first,” He looked at me like he was scolding his child. “You were very brave. To protect us.” he looked again, moving his hand to brush through my hair with a small smile.

“We want to live here with you. Keep us safe,” he explained, using his hand to point between him and me.

He wanted to move into the castle to better take care of each other, and I hoped maybe some more secret selfish reasons.

“We don't usually have outsiders living in the castle.” I expressed with a small chuckle, hoping to pull that same bait-and-switch maneuver he'd used on me.

He pulled away for a moment, looking at me with an arched brow as he clutched his nonexistent pearls in surprise.

“Outsider?” his accent curled around the word making it sound disgusting.

“Si soy un extraño, ¿qué es esto?” he reached for my face again with a careful grip on my jaw. He leaned in and kissed my chin right below my lip.

Little innocent pecks peppered the edges of my face, tracing my features so kindly, painting me in a warmth that I felt too selfish to share.

“Okay I get it, I get it.” I snickered but didn't dare pull away. “Wrong wording,” I added as he continued.

These little moments of intimacy, small nuggets of domestic bliss, were pieces of life I didn't want to ever forget.

I'd never seen or felt such sweetness before. Never understood my brother more.

He composed himself with the biggest and stupidest grin on his face.

“Your friends won't be upset?” I clarified a little.

If his whole village town would feel betrayed by this step I would never ask him to do it.

He shook his head ‘no’ and grabbed the hands in my lap. “They told me to ask,” he admitted.

I felt that buzz of heat and the fluttering in my stomach.

“Okay then. I'm sure we can figure something out.” I squeezed his hands with a smile.

When getting ready for the day I was startled by the sound of hurried little raps against my bedroom door.

I opened it, feeling uneasy immediately.

What I saw broke my heart.

A teary-eyed Leo, gasping for breath as she reached at me to pick her up.

Gathered in my arms, she clung to my shoulders and sobbed loudly.

The sound of my heartbeat thumping in my ears was deafening. Something was very wrong.

People began flooding into the hallway to see what all the commotion was.

“Hey, can you tell me what happened?” I asked, brushing the wet hairs from clinging to her cheek.

She just wailed more, gripping my shirt.

“Honey, please, tell me what happened so I can help. Is your papá okay?” I tried to be as comforting as I could while the alarm bells in my head started blaring.

“The man!” she swallowed a sharp inhale to squeak. “¡El hombre malvado se llevó a mi pa!”

I felt like my whole world stopped, I couldn't help the way my chest felt like it had splintered into pieces.

“Leo,” I started once I caught my breath. “Leo dear, I need you to stay with Princess Tina so I can go find your dad, okay?” I said, taking strides toward my sister who had peeked her head out from the doorframe.

“No! Don't leave!” she begged, clinging to me harder.

“I need to find him, you stay here. I'll bring him back home, Leo.” I promised, peeling her off of my person.

She was in full-blown panic when I finally handed her off.

I started running down the stairs, ignoring the sounds of everyone trying to stop me in my tracks.

I let my feet take me to the armory where I geared up in our finest armor and equipped some of the best weapons in the damned building.

I leaned into one of the password-protected chests to pull packs of ammunition out from the bottom and then dropped them into one of my pouches.

Health infusion injectors, bandages, anything helpful that I could fit in my pockets without weighing me down too much.

Once I finished that I ran into the building where I had been hiding the car I was fixing up, made sure to fuel the tank, and started my journey.

Every passing second made me feel more sick. I was beyond angry, I was infuriated.

I wanted nothing more than to find Vegetta and shoot that idiot king in between the eyes.

The disrespect, the constant disrespect.

Robbing me of my happiness for his own selfish reasons. I knew he wanted me to come to the castle. I knew he wanted me to bring people.

I would rather watch him and his men squirm waiting for a fight to break out.

Waiting forever for the backup that would never come.

This was my fight.

And I would go through the lowest of lows for him.

By the time I was parking the car in a bush a kilometer or so out from the enemy castle, the sun had moved straight above my head.

I strode on foot to their main gates. The guards standing by had to do a double take.

“King Foolish here to see King Mendo,” I growled through grit teeth.

One of them let me in while the other pulled a horn off of his belt and blew the sound toward the sky.

A code of sorts to let everyone in the kingdom know of, what I assumed was my arrival, though you never knew with this slimy kingdom.

The gate doors opened and I trudged to the second checkpoint, standing just as tall and confident as before. Maybe even moreso.

I genuinely had never felt more calm and more chaotic in my life. It might have actually been the most composed I'd been since meeting Vegetta if I had to guess.

I'd never been so sure of what I wanted to do. Never been so confident without a plan.

The second gate let me through and another horn was sounded to the sky.

I walked straight in between the people, even though they were dangerous, ravenous creatures.

My body carried me through the castle entrance and straight to the throne room.

This castle was set up oddly, with a meeting table sitting right in front of the throne.

The room was bustling with people, almost like this place lacked order. It was something that didn't surprise me but it was most annoying.

I stood up on the table and looked around for those soul-piercing purple eyes anywhere.

I know though, he would probably be locked up in some sort of jail system outside the castle like ours.

The moment I realized I wouldn't be able to see him, I immediately slammed my foot into the wooden tabletop.

“Where is King Mendo?” I bellowed to the Thorn Ridge citizens.

Silence rolled over the masses like a carpet as I watched the pathetic little man walk toward his stupid chair.

He dismissed the crowd of people to the outside, waiting for the sardines in the room to file out.

My limbs trembled at the anticipation of knocking this guy’s teeth into the back of his throat with a bullet.

It was scary, I'd never been so violent before, but if Vegetta was hurt, or worse, I think I'd have no other choice.

I'd lose myself to madness, I know I would. It's in my genes.

“Where is he?” I hissed before he could even peep a second of his usual creepy greeting.

“Where is who?” he feigned innocence and held his hands up.

“Where is Vegetta?” My patience was waning and he could tell.

“Oh, your little side project? He is well taken care of, don't you worry.” he smiled in a way that made my stomach churn.

I took long thunderous strides across the table, hopping up to the throne to push the barrel of the assault rifle in the center of his chest.

“I swear to god and everything above, Mendo, if there is so much as a scratch on his arm, I will empty an entire mag of bullets into your lungs.” I pressed it harder into him.

He let out a light-hearted chuckle. It was obvious he didn't believe me.

I'd taken a more passive approach my entire life, that's true, but I'd also never allowed myself to care about something outside my family until recently.

I took a step back and looked down at the man, moving the gun to his forearm and squeezing the grip in my palm.

“I’m not joking, Mendo.” I could feel the intensity of my words reverberate in my abdomen. “Where is Vegetta?” I asked again. “Choose your next words wisely.”

“Let me give you a proposition.” he smiled. “Marry me and conjoin kingdoms, and in return, I will turn a blind eye to your manly mistress.” he reached his free hand for my chin.

“Wrong answer,” I said simply, tapping the trigger enough for a single bullet to crack through the bones in his arm.

His eyes widened as he looked at his fresh wound.

The sound of footsteps came flooding back into the throne room.

His mouth fell open at the sight of the gaping bloody hole.

“Try again,” I moved the barrel to his shoulder.

Truth be told, I wasn't expecting to shoot that bullet.

But Vegetta, after all this time, was basically like family too.

“Fine, I’ll show you, only because I don't want my men to shoot you.” he huffed, swallowing down the pain he was experiencing.

His choice of words meant that he clearly wasn't deterred enough by even a bullet.

He stood up, clutching his fresh wound. I pressed the gun into his side so he didn't get any funny ideas and try to capture me.

I followed him into a hallway that led to some stairs, a prison of sorts with multiple rows of cells.

He took me down a specific hall and I saw a lot of thm were occupied by people, I was curious how many of them went completely forgotten in there.

Eventually, I saw him, my Vegetta.

His face of relief turned worried when he saw the trails of blood and the gun pointed at him.

I watched as Mendo called a cell keeper over to unlock the door.

I wasn't expecting him to fold so easily to handing him over, but all I could think of was Leo’s cries for help first thing in the morning.

I pulled the man out of the cell with my other hand and returned my grip on the weapon.

“Now escort us off the territory. I don't want them doing anything stupid.” I ordered to Mendo.

Didn't matter if this wasn't my kingdom. This guy was pathetic. So if that moron melted whenever I called the shots, then I didn't mind being the temporary flame on that candle.

His persistence had to be useful for something.

He nodded with a weak smile.

“Sígueme.” I hummed the Spaniard and pushed the gun into the other man, signaling for him to start walking.

We made it out of Thorn Ridge with nothing but concerned glances and angry muttering from the members of this forsaken kingdom.

I'd heard once that the commoners under Mendo hated his willingness to lay their lives down for my hand.

I'd even taken a few refugees from that kingdom, with the promise of shelter and community.

I stood behind Vegetta, as he had no armor on, and brought him to the car that I had driven here.

I opened his door for him, got him secure in the seat, and then checked the fuel before getting in the driver's side and starting it.

The drive back was silent, Vegetta hadn't even looked at me since seeing the gun. I was worried, but I did warn him. “–no lows too low, no highs too high.”

About halfway back to the kingdom, he asked me to pull over.

“You shot him?” he asked calmly, looking straight forward.

I swallowed down the fear that began bubbling to the top of my stomach.

“I had to.” I sighed, letting the hard exterior crumble.

I couldn't lie to him, and pretending like I was some kind of heartless monster just wasn't like me.

“Has venido a rescatarme.“ he mumbled, even if I knew what it meant I doubted he wanted me to hear him. He still hadn't even spared me a sideways glance.

I started to feel guilt crawl up my throat.

“Are we good to go?” I asked softly, facing forward with my hand on the gear shift. All I needed was the word and we’d be gone.

Instead, the man thought for a moment in complete silence.

“Espera,” he adjusted himself in his seat. “Mírame.” he finally veered around to me, quickly turning my head with his fingers and then dropping them back in his lap.

His eyes flicked over my features curiously, maybe even a little scared, though I prayed not.

The longer I sat there, the more something about him drew me in, and my entire upper body was suddenly meeting him halfway above the center console.

I felt like a dorky teenager again, sneaking off to appease my biology with someone who would make my dad’s face burn bright red in anger.

Except I was in a car after saving the love of my life from my worst enemy, and he wanted to repay me in a way he hadn't before, no matter how many times I promised that it wasn't necessary.

As we pulled into the Rusty Bones territory, the sun was already kissing the horizon goodnight and I found myself still sweeping my hair back into its usual place.

The rest of the ride was sweetly quiet, the distance between us felt less hostile.

I felt bad keeping the kingdom in such chaos for the entirety of the day.

The man in the passenger’s seat had that look on his face, unmistakable to anyone who's seen one similar, and I knew that there was definitely no denying anything.

I didn't care to bring it up though, as there were more pressing matters at hand.

Like reuniting the big dope sitting beside me with his child or checking in on my siblings and the state of the castle in my absence.

I parked the car in the stupid little garage that needed a material upgrade soon and guided the man into the castle.

I was immediately greeted by my advisor, June.

“My Lord, you have returned.” he looked worse for wear.

“Yes, I apologize, it took longer than expected to free him. How is everything?” I asked as we all continued up the stairs.

He looked at the no-longer-captive man and then silently raised a brow at me, though I just ignored it.

He cleared his throat and straightened out his coat. “The little one was a mess, it took us forever to calm her down.” he tiredly hummed.

“Where is she?” I asked.

“Asleep in his room.” he hummed. “She got tired from all the crying.”

We eventually got to the sleeping quarters and found at least five people chatting in the hall.

“They’re back,” June called out with a breath of relief.

The group ahead let out a collective exhale, matching the energy.

I gently bumped my elbow into the man’s side, which seemingly helped snap him out of his stupor.

He blinked a couple times and realized where he was, as if opening his eyes for the first time.

“Leo?” he whispered before rushing down the hall to find his daughter.

I followed closely behind and grabbed his hand to redirect him when he started turning the wrong way.

I opened his door and just as June said, there she was. Puffy eyes, red coloured nose, and sound asleep, curled up in the big bed.

He sighed and hurried over, running to the bedside. I slipped into the room after him and closed the door behind us.

This was a family moment, they had both just gone through hell, and I didn't think they needed any more watchful eyes than they needed.

He started petting her hair softly, a gentle way of waking her up.

“Hola niñita,” he mumbled softly she opened her eyes and immediately I could hear her small blurbs of tired weeping.

She mumbled something to her dad that I couldn't hear, but he immediately flinched. Then, after the longest split second of silence, Vegetta turned to me and beckoned me with his hand.

I hesitantly joined them, nestling between their faces.

She practically leaped into my arms, buried her head in the nape of my neck, and thanked me a million times.

Vegetta wrapped his arms around us and I felt the subconscious rumble of fear settle to a stillness in my chest.

It had only been a few months, and everything was so incredibly fast-paced, but when I wasn't working I was spending time with these two.

They were like family.

“I will always do everything I can to protect you.” I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed her back with an open palm.

We swayed back and forth for a moment as a cluster. Not letting go until I felt her yawn against my shoulder.

We tucked her back into bed and slipped away, sifting into the hallway with a smile.

The crowd had dissipated during the moment and then it was just us again.

“¿Podemos hablar un momento?” he muttered softly, leaning his shoulder into my side for a second.

“Of course,” I smiled and took his arm, walking him into my room.

Quiet, spacious, places to sit that weren't my bed. Private, once again hidden away from watchful eyes.

I took a seat on the stool at the vanity table, inviting him to pick his poison.

He stretched, audible pops and crackles from his back filled the silence, and then he sat on the edge of my mattress.

His posture had fallen a bit into a more comfortable slouch, remnants of a perfect posture very faint but ever so present.

This man had managed to undo twenty-something years of suppressed heartache and fear within the span of a few months.

He invited his child to bury themselves in a little spot of my heart, building a fire that provided warmth and comfort, even when I was stupid and running from them.

“Rey Foolish,” he started, voice so sweet it almost felt like a toothache. “My Leo and me somos una pareja. Like this,” he said, showing me his fingers crossed together.

“I know, Vegetta.” I snickered with a wide grin.

“Si nos volvemos oficiales, la incluye a ella.” he looked at me with a stern, very serious face.

I got up, despite my best judgement, and sat next to him.

“I know, Vegetta,” I repeated, rubbing his forearm in the same place I had shot the other guy.

“If you not ready for that you tell me, ok?” he pressed a pointed fingertip into my chest.

“I know, Vegetta.” I stared him directly in the eyes. “What happened? Are you okay?” I added, confused as to why he was trying to cram information I already knew into me.

He paused for a bit and huffed, then slumped forward, elbow resting on his knee and forehead pressed into his palm.

“Tú puedes hablar conmigo.” I reminded, delicately grabbing his shoulder and tracing little shapes into it.

“Leo te llamó ‘pa fulich’ allí.” he groaned.

“Oh, ”

Chapter Text

Family

It was complicated, it was painful, it was scary.

“King Foolish?” the nurse at the door called again.

I could feel the threat of tears welling in my eyes. The hair on my neck stood and a heavy lump formed in my throat.

“I’m sorry, come again?” I asked again, clicking my pen closed and placing it on my desk.

“Prince Quackity is showing signs of a stroke,” she repeated with an emotionless face.

It was her job to see stuff like this all the time.

“Is he-?” the words fizzled off my tongue as I spoke them.

“He’s connected to some machines to help him for now, but the doctor has determined his brain function is very low.” she explained.

I felt like my whole world stopped.

“Does anyone know?” I inquired softly, getting up from my seat, straightening out my waistcoat subconsciously.

“Just you and the medical staff.” she confirmed.

I took a deep breath and melted the look of despair off of my face, an old habit I was glad I hadn't completely gotten rid of.

“Take me to him, I will break the news to my siblings, don't worry about that.” I swallowed that lump.

She nodded and lead me back upstairs to his room. Every person I passed on my way there looked at us like they’d seen a ghost, everyone knew something was off.

From the open doorway, I saw my little brother lying there in bed. He was just as still as the day we found him, with medical staff watching cautiously at his bedside.

“May I have a moment with him alone?” I asked before watching them all duck out of the room. One of them was mumbling a prayer under her breath on her way passed me.

I closed the door and stood at his side, then took one of his hands in mine, just watching him.

His chest rose and fell with the help of a ventilator, wires fed through the bottom of his sleeve and attached to his body.

Little brain function didn't mean no brain function.

“It's been a while,” I spoke softly, like if I got too loud he would shatter.

“Sorry I didn't come see you more, being king is really hard.”

Him and I didn't spend too much time together, not peacefully anyway.

We were usually bickering about something, he was a lot closer to our other brother.

“Still no word from Cellbit, but I'm sure you already figured that.” I bit my cheek as I thought some more.

“You know what? I’m gonna tell you something I haven't told anyone before. It was supposed to be a secret, but seeing you like this-”

I squeezed his hand and took a deep, calming breath. It wasn't fair to put all this on him, not in this state.

“I knew why he left. I was there that night when he was packing his bag.” I swallowed the guilt that had been sitting on me.

On the incredibly off chance he woke up, would he even remember what I was saying anyway?

“I understand why he left too. I understand more now than ever.”

I didn't realize how much this weighed on me until every syllable felt like tossing a cinder block off my shoulders.

“He met a boy, and well, our father wasn't very fond of people like us.” I sighed. “He kept it a secret, but I knew.”

Maybe if I tell him something that shocked him enough then he would wake up. I would even settle for a twitch.

“He ran away to live with his lover and get married. He wasn't built to be king, not while Dad was alive at least.” I could feel those stupid tears coming on again.

“I know we didn't talk a lot, I don't know what you even know about me, but I got a boyfriend. Well, that's not confirmed yet.”. I crossed my arms over my chest, letting him have his hand back.

“You’d probably like him, well, actually you would probably make fun of him.” I laughed. “He’s going gray, and he's got crow's feet. And he speaks Spanish.”

If Quackity were conscious, he wouldn't care. He wouldn't give a damn about Vegetta.

Watching him so stiff and silent though, I imagined whatever was left of him hated the monotony of this life.

He would probably take any break he could get.

“Oh he also has a child. She's the cutest darn thing I've ever seen. I'd spend the rest of my life giving her gifts if he would let me.”

He stayed still, too still.

“I'm sorry I didn't get to know you too well before this, but I did love you. You were my favourite little brother.” I snickered.

That was something he’d find funny.

“I should go tell our sisters, shouldn't I?” I hummed and wiped the tears trailing down my cheeks.

I put on my bravest neutral face again, like a porcelain mask that would shatter at the slightest bump, and rolled out the slump in my shoulders.

Pulling myself together, building those walls back up. I couldn't have anything slip through these cracks, not now.

“I’ll be back,” I muttered before walking out of the room.

I wandered the halls like a husk of a man, it felt weird.

Is this how I'd been moving my whole life? Emotionless and cold?

I visited Tina’s room first, hoping I'd find both of them at once.

The door opened, and she looked like a mess. She definitely just woke up. Her hair wild and make up from last night smudged on her face.

“Is Miyoung in here?” I asked as calmly as I could to not give anything away.

“No she’s probably at her farm, why?” she seemed cranky, which wasn't a surprise.

“There is something important I need to discuss with you two. Please get ready for the day and meet me in the hallway.” I took a deep and steady breath.

“Okay, is everything alright?” she asked, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her palm.

“I think it's best we talk about it together.” I denied her any extra info.

It was better if we saved the hysterics for the actual privacy of the room.

I made my way toward the farm, knowing my Tina would take forever to get ready anyway.

On the way there I ran into June, who I asked to turn away any visitors until further notice.

When I got to the farm, there she was. Miyoung swept dirt off of her produce stand with a wide paintbrush.

“Oh hey Foolish, what’s going on, man?” she smiled. “Sorry, King Foolish.”

“There is something important I need to talk to you about. We’re waiting for Tina to get ready so you have time, but I would appreciate if you got ready and met me in the hall of our living quarters.” I instructed her.

The smile on her face seemed to have faded as if she knew what it was about already.

With time to spare, I made the journey all the way back to my room where I wept.

Well, I tried.

This porcelain mask had gotten stuck of sorts, no matter how hard I pressed, the tears wouldn't come.

I just wanted to let it out before having to face them again.

Family was scary. It was heartbreaking. It was painful.

Eventually I gave up and went back out there, waiting for my sisters to join me at the top of the stairs.

Miyoung had still made it to me first, even with taking the long way. When Tina emerged from her room and joined us, I asked them to follow me.

With every step closer we got I could hear the farmer girl’s feet drag against the carpet.

I stopped them before the door and explained everything to them, watching as that feeling of family reached them too.

I let them go into the room and stood there, doing my best to be the shoulder they cried on.

We sat in that room for hours until the nurses kicked us out for more monitoring.

He wasn't dead for sure but he certainly had one foot hanging out the door.

My baby brother, before I could even really talk to him. Just like my mom, just like my big brother.

I let my body take me wherever it was going, not surprised when I found myself knocking on Vegetta’s door.

We had gone through with full room decoration changes, releasing whatever pain that was trapped inside to rot in the past.

My mom’s old room was now a deep purple, almost plum coloured, with intricate silver leaf patterns on the walls.

A breath of fresh air, a room that no longer felt or looked like a memory.

He opened the door and immediately noticed something was off.

He wordlessly pulled me in for a hug and caressed the back of my head, walking me into the room and closing us inside.

“Ay, mi amor, ¿qué pasó?” He swayed us back and forth.

The mask slipped.

I broke down.

Full, ugly sobbing.

Like a child that broke a bone, I literally fell apart in his arms.

He squeezed me tighter and rubbed my back comfortingly.

Being a king is hard. It's hard as hell. Having to watch my family get picked off one by one too? I couldn't handle it.

He sat me down and grabbed my face, putting our foreheads together and wiping all the tears with his thumbs, stopping them from continuing too far on their path.

His touch was so gentle for how rough his hands were.

“Stay here,” he grabbed my fingers and kissed my knuckles before escaping through the door.

He didn't spend too long outside the room, but when he returned he had little Leo with him.

“Pa Fulich, ¿estás bien?” her voice was so quiet and fragile.

I shook my head no, lying to her when she was brought here to help her dad comfort me was senseless.

They walked closer cautiously.

“It's okay, you don't have to be okay.” her smile was kind.

They walked over to the bed and climbed up next to me. Once settled in a spot, she reached for my arms and tangled herself in them.

I squeezed her as tight as I could without really hurting her and listened to the sound of her little laughs. She tried so hard to be serious but I knew her too well by now.

I saw Vegetta’s warm smile from behind her.

I pulled him toward us with one hand and was wrapped in the kind of compassion that I’d forgotten existed.

Just enough to find solace, not too much to feel pitied.

“Pa Vege says sometimes crying helps you feel better.” she hummed.

Usually, when she cried he told her to get it together, but I wasn't going to take the moment of tenderness away from her.

He pressed a kiss on her little head and then softly caressed the bridge of his nose against my cheek.

We sat there, swaying together for a bit.

Family can be warm. It can be precious. It can be forgiving.

When we all pulled away from the embrace, she looked at me with the most innocent smile I'd ever seen.

“What happened? Puedes hablar con nosotros.” her little palm pressed into my knees.

I adjusted myself to sit further toward the center of the bed and pulled her into my lap. I grabbed the man’s hand, for comfort surely, and watched him nod quietly.

Like he was giving me permission to continue talking.

“Its a secret, so you have to promise not to tell anyone.” I started, offering my pinky finger to her.

“But what if Papá hears it?” she said, taking my finger in hers anyway and then glaring at her father.

“He has to promise not to tell anyone too.” I looked at him and offered that same finger.

He rolled his eyes with a grin and did just as his child had.

“My little brother is very sick.” I sniffled through a weak smile.

She sat there thinking again. You could practically see the cogs turning in her head the way she crossed her arms and looked up to a random corner of the ceiling.

“Do you think he will meet mi mamá?” she asked as if nothing about it could hurt.

Even Vegetta flinched, to which I squeezed his hand and rubbed the back of his knuckles softly.

“Probably.” I tried to offer up as much happiness to my tone as I could.

“Maybe they can make fun of you guys for kissing when you think no one is there.” she giggled into her palm.

“¿Qué?” her dad squawked, wild eyes staring at her.

I'd talked with Leo about it before. Well, she told me and I listened. How her mom asked her dad to move on after she passed. How she apparently wanted to watch her husband fall in love and share it with someone else.

Something along the lines of “too good to keep to herself”.

She told me of how she had told her dad many times that a person he was interested in wouldn't make her mother happy enough.

It was the reason why it had been such a big deal that she started calling me “Pa Foolish” so quickly.

He started chasing her around the room, her eventually climbing into my lap and curling into my chest.

“¿Crees que él puede salvarte?” the man crackled like a villain before tackling us to the bed and making the little one erupt into uncontrollable laughter.

I spent weeks visiting my brother and telling him things he would never remember, helping my sisters come to terms with it all.

By the time it was official, I found myself unable to prepare a speech. We were planning a private ceremony first as a way to buy me more time.

I was so desperate that I even tried to send a letter to my older brother, wherever he was.

“You don't have to write all of this now,” June reassured me.

“I need to tell them something. They've known something was going on with him for a while.” I scratched the scruff that had started peeking out on my jaw.

“I know, maybe wait until after the one in private and then you can let them know before the burial,” he suggested softly.

Everything about this sucked.

Everything about having to say goodbye to another family member made my stomach churn.

“Okay,” I agreed.

Two days is all I had before the funeral.

The halls had been filled with flowers that Tina picked from a field they used to go to with Cellbit.

Cellbit

Oh, how I wished he was here to help. Even if we weren't too kind to each other, he trusted me enough on that last night to tell me everything.

He’d prepared so much for the crown, taken so much time to learn what words to say.

But here I was, walking into my room to find another all-black outfit hanging on the door of my wardrobe.

I'd been distracting myself with the Spanish man and his child.

They knew I needed the distractions too, happy to help any way they could.

I even brought the little one to help me console Tina, who similarly was struggling to deal with everything.

A knock on the door made me jump.

Tina, speak of the devil, was standing in the doorway with a shy smile.

She’d obviously been crying for a while, but saying that out loud would be the last thing she needed.

She sat on my bed and played with the little trinkets strewn about.

“I need normal time, brother.” she put it simply. “I need to talk about the town gossip, and ask you invasive questions, and watch you get mad at me, and have those stupid arguments that don't mean anything but we still do it because that's what siblings do.”

I sat down beside her and nodded. I needed normal time too.

Something to bring us back to balance before we went into this elbow-deep.

“So, what’s up?” I asked curiously, shaking all the sorrow out of my shoulders.

“I heard you and your boyfriend got a little carried away the other day.” she raised an eyebrow at me with a knowing smirk.

“I don't know what you're talking about, but if I did I would probably say ‘That was like half a month ago and I don't want to talk to my little sister about it’. What else?” I squeezed my eyes shut to push the memory away for now.

“Fine, that's good enough.” she rolled her eyes and moved on to talking about her arms dealer friend and how he was seemingly getting a little too close again.

We chatted for a while, picking at anything I could to try and bicker over, but eventually she ran out of things to say.

We sat there quiet. It felt normal for the most part.

There was definitely a lingering feeling of despair looming over us like a shadow waiting to show itself in the light.

But it was normal as we could get for now, and it was nice.

“Foolish, I know they're like your little family now, but please don't push Miyoung and I away.” she rested her temple on my shoulder.

“Where’d you get that idea?” I started fidgeting with my hands in my lap and nervously picking at the skin on my lip.

“Well the little one calls you her dad,” she tensed up like she got caught assuming something she shouldn't have.

“No, not that, I mean where'd you get the idea that I'm pushing you guys away?” I shrugged with my free shoulder.

“You spend less time with us, you don't check in as often,” she mumbled and started fidgeting as well.

I sighed, soaking in everything she said to try and quickly think of what to say.

“This whole ‘being the king’ thing keeps me inside a lot, I don't really have free time unless you come to me first.” I explained.

In fact, the only reason I wasn't on the throne right now was because I had June rejecting any meetings with me unless someone else was dying.

“Oh come on, I know sometimes you're too busy to be around me.” she scoffed, sitting up and shaking my shoulder.

“Half the time I'm too busy to talk with them on the side too, I give them their needed affection and then send them on their way for a few hours.” I put my hands up as if surrendering the truth to her.

“I promise I'm not trying to push you guys away, especially not now. I'm just so busy all the time.” I explained with a certain sadness in my tone that she immediately told me to get rid of.

“You should marry him.” she sighed as if it didn't feel like she had just suplexed me with words.

“What?”

“You do want to marry him one day, right?” she looked at me curiously again, putting me incredibly on the spot.

“I don't even know if he wants to get married again. Of course I want to see this through to the end, but we don't really talk to each other like that.” I shied away a bit.

We were committed to each other, that was all. Never even mentioned the idea of being boyfriends or lovers or any title for that matter.

It felt unnecessary when we knew we didn't want anyone else with as much intensity and devotion.

I loved him, I told him so at the Ball.

“It would silence the other people trying to send suitors your way.” she added with a shrug.

Which, she had a point.

Up until I met with Vegetta, I had been getting frequent requests to meet with princesses and dutchesses from here and yonder.

Rumours spiral, but I assume after a bit too long without word of marriage they would start trying again anyway.

And though I appreciated it, I hated the idea of being a bargaining chip for a kingdom that couldn't give less of a shit about me.

I always said “If that's what I wanted I would just stay home.”

“I don't want to marry him to stop an influx of mail. If I wanted to marry him it would be because I love him and want to show everyone.” I shook my head.

Her brow raised as she stared at me.

“Which I do, don't get me wrong, I just don't know if-” I couldn't finish the sentence. There were so many possible things stopping it, and honestly I wanted to savour whatever we had before it possibly went wrong.

“Fine, I’ll talk with Leo about it.” she shrugged. “Do remember though, the worst thing he could say is ‘no’. I don't see him breaking up with you over it. He likes you too much.”

“All it takes is one moment to change decades of history.” I reminded her, referring to our father and his brash mistakes.

I found myself praying that I wasn't making the same ones.

Chapter Text

Dressed in black, I stood at the castle balcony with a proper microphone and speaker set up for the entire kingdom to hear my speech.

I explained that my brother had gotten sick a few months back, that he’d been closely monitored twenty-four-seven, and that his illness had unfortunately caught the best of him.

I expressed the sorrow I felt with my two sisters weeping to my side and my partner standing far enough behind me to not be seen by the people, as per his request.

I explained that there would be a day of Mourning, and apologized to the people for having closed the castle for a few days, promising it would only be a couple more while things got sorted out.

I thanked those who had shown him kindness during his life, held a moment of silence, and finished it with something he’d told me once.

It wasn't perfect, but what could you really expect from a king named Foolish anyway?

Schools were closed, bars opened early, and other kingdoms were informed of the tragic loss.

Standard procedure for a dead royal.

I walked to my room in complete silence, carrying myself to sit on my bed.

I peeled my coat off, tired of wearing the colour black, and allowed myself a single glass of Scotch from my father’s collection.

I loosened my tie and looked at myself in the mirror.

I couldn't even recognize my reflection. Visibly tired, though freshly shaved, unattractively pale, and a bit more stiff with every move.

The darkness of the black pants washed me out too. I hated it all, the premise, the attire, the burying another person.

The knock at my door didn't even phase me.

“Come in,” I ordered after taking a sip, ignoring the burn down my throat.

In the reflection, I saw my love opening the door with his child on his hip. Our child? I don't even know.

“Buenos días mi amor.” he hummed with a soft smile.

I put the crystal down on the shelf with the rest of them and greeted them the way I always had.

Tina once told him about what happened to my father after failing to get the information out of me. So when he looked at me with an expression that said he saw me drinking, I knew what was coming.

“That's my first one, I only had one sip,” I promised as I opened the door wider.

“No dije nada.” he shook his head a little, adjusting his child in his arms to stop her from slipping.

“Didn't have to,” I mumbled simply before continuing our routine.

One hand on the man’s shoulder and the other on the little one’s, I kissed him and then planted one on the top of her head.

It was something she and her dad allowed, just a little more of a familial interaction between us.

“Leo wanted to talk with you today.” he put her down to walk. “Si no estás ocupado, por supuesto.” he looked at me, almost mildly judgemental.

Obviously I wasn't busy and he knew that. I’d shut down the kingdom for the most part and was a singular sip into some alcohol that I didn't even like.

“Of course, I have time to talk.” I smiled at her and invited her inside.

Once she was far enough inside, her rummaging through a drawer I’d let her put random things in, I turned to look at her father.

“I don't know what the problem is, but I promise I'm alright.” I looked at him again, staring into his eyes as if to double down.

He took my cheek in his palm and sighed.

“Don't worry, mi amor.” I returned the sentiment.

He let it go eventually and walked away, leaving me and the little one to sit together again. She sat at the vanity long hair pulled out of the thing that was holding it.

“So, what’s up kiddo?” I asked as I watched her hand me her brush. Her father had already helped her with her hair no doubt, but she liked the way it felt when people played with it.

I didn't mind keeping busy while I listened to her anyway.

“Princess Tina told me you want to marry my dad and become mi padrastro.” she said just as bold as ever.

I felt my cheeks flush, something I'm sure she noticed in the mirror.

“I have mentioned it before, I don't know if your dad is ready for that.” I replied softly, hoping she would drop it but knowing she would have more.

“He is very ready.” she stopped me from continuing to spiral with “What If”s.

“What do you know?” I asked, proving I was interested in what she wanted to tell me, which I'd learned a while ago was important when talking to her.

“He asks me a lot if I think you’re a good papá. He tells me he’s never been more in love with a man. He blushes whenever he remembers that we live in your castle,“ she rattled off a few.

“Though he tells me he only blushes because he’s embarrassed to be seen in common folk clothes when going inside.” she added in that familiar tone of disbelief.

“That could very much be the truth though.” I reminded her as if she needed one. “Don’t worry I've been working on it. Clothes for him and you.”

She kicked her feet with the widest smile I think she could muster up.

I would give her the world if her father let me.

“If I asked him to marry me, we would have a lot to talk about,” I warned her. “Marrying a King is a lot of responsibility, it can be scary for some people.”

She could tell I was worried.

“Pa Vege knew mi mamá was sick when they got married. He told me ‘el amor todo lo puede’ so I think he would love you even if you were a monster.”

Her words reverberated around my skull the more I thought about them.

That night, I shot a hole in a guy’s arm, and instead of scaring him off, it brought us closer.

Both literally and figuratively.

Ever since then, the Spanish-speaking man has stayed relatively in my orbit. I noticed it the other day when he offered to help me organize the books on the shelves in my study while I worked on reading the old request letters.

“No, I think you're right with that one.”

My hands trembled watching the box with my brother in it get lowered into the ground.

All black besides the bright yellow wildflowers we all carried in our hands.

They were his favourite ones according to my sister.

I tuned out the man speaking to whatever gods above. Just some old tradition that I didn't want to break for my brother.

A sturdy palm rested on the middle of my back. I had asked Vegetta to be here with me. I needed some kind of support of my own if I was going to support my sisters.

Even Miyoung, who usually opted to skip kingdom events, was here, silently weeping into her handkerchief.

We all tossed our flowers into the pit as the casket touched the bottom of the hole, and then the workers did their job. Tossing dirt over the crater until it was all covered up.

Most people had dispersed before they grabbed their shovels, but I stayed and watched.

I couldn't tear my eyes away but didn't want to see it.

It was real, my family had grown bigger and shrunken smaller at the same time.

Even when they had finished covering him up, my gaze was fixed on it. Maybe his hand would pop out of the dirt? He’d always been the kind of guy to love theatrics.

Vegetta grabbed my face and pulled me away from staring too long at the pile.

He shook his head at me, like he’d been reading my mind, and wiped my tears away.

I burrowed my face into the nape of his neck and wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

I wept, uncaring who would see me absolutely falling apart in this man’s grasp.

He rubbed my back again and walked me inside.

I sighed, this place felt like a curse, and there were people who wanted to live like royalty.

I found myself subconsciously wandering toward the piano.

That sickness curled itself in the pit of my stomach again, like an angry snake ready to snap at whatever got too close.

I hated this job, these stupid responsibilities, and my idiot brother for making me do this. For inadvertently killing our family.

Couldn't even bother to show up to the funeral of his favourite sibling.

Not like I could have invited him specifically anyway.

He lived who knows how far away across the ocean now.

Probably too in love to even think about his family.

The thought made me swallow that lump in my throat.

I started playing the melancholy sadness on the piano. The song I had learned how to play after my mother’s funeral.

Moonlight Sonata

It didn't sound as good as the original, this darn thing was still out of tune, but I played.

The people gathered as they usually did. At some point Vegetta and Leo were there just beyond everyone, sitting together on the stairs like they’d pulled up to a concert.

I was too busy being in love to see my family. To notice it had fallen apart more. It was my fault.

I should have known something was wrong with him. I should have known something didn't seem right.

I should have been there.

My fingers pressed on the keys and let myself be carried away.

The instrument took my sadness, the lull of time. How slow everything felt, how the world seemed to stop turning as soon as you got the news that you're going to lose another person with your name.

That feeling of “it could have easily been me just as it was him”. That survivor's guilt.

It took the fear of being left alone, it took the racing of my heart as I thought more. It took the pain of wondering what breath would be my lover’s last.

The fear of being the reason the ones I love don't get to see another day.

Then I pressed aggressively into the keys, showing my fear I threw my hands up with every change.

But then I calmed for a moment, my fingertips moving with poise. A moment of bliss during heartache. A moment of normal.

Yet the moments were always fleeting, life always ramped back up. Everything always came back. Everything always hurts as life keeps moving. Nothing changes.

No matter how hard I worked, nothing changed.

And when I let the piano tell the people of my fears and frustrations, slamming down the last few notes, I ignored the heavy sound of teardrops thudding against the floor below me.

When my hands lifted from the keys, finally finished with my wordless cry for help, I heard clapping.

Like I'd just decided to put on a show after burying my baby brother.

I could feel the anger thrashing inside, I wanted to tear into these vultures and rip them apart. Always circling around when I was at my most vulnerable.

I hated this crown. I hated the artificial connections people had with me, constantly giving me what they thought I wanted.

I didn't want this.

I didn't want to be seen like some circus animal. Like a man with no feelings. I’m so tired of not being allowed to feel!

I stood up from the bench and just started running off.

This was all I was good at. Running off.

Maybe I was like my brother.

Nothing about me was different besides he got to escape.

All this phony support.

I ran to my garage, which was falling apart, and got in the stupid car.

People watched as I drove the damned thing straight out of the kingdom’s barricades.

I needed to be anywhere but there.

I couldn't stand looking at those walls, I couldn't think about it without feeling sick to my stomach.

I drove this stupid thing as far away as I could.

The set of armor I’d worn on the day I shot Mendo was still sitting between the seats.

Another distraction.

I randomly stopped in the center of a grass field and parked the damn thing.

I didn't want to run out of fuel in the middle of nowhere.

I needed to let all this shit out somewhere though. I was so damn tired of listening to everything.

I opened the door then got out and slammed it shut before climbing onto the roof of the car and standing under the evening sun.

I sucked in a deep breath and immediately grumbled out just a semblance of a loud cry.

Royalty wasn't allowed to yell or make a scene in public. But it was fine if you were a king scolding your young children for having a hobby, I guess.

I hated all these standards put on me, and I was already throwing the grown-man equivalent of a tantrum anyway.

Another deep breath was all it took for me to release the loudest outcry I could.

A guttural sound that formed in the pit of my stomach and rolled through me like a wave crashing against the shore. The kind of sound that scratched your throat on the way out.

I let it echo off the vast expanse of clouds.

I was so sick of it all.

Everything made my body ache. The snake snapped at the sky as I continued to scream it out.

Eventually, it uncoiled and the pain of feeling too strung up and pulled thin dissipated. It felt nice to allow myself to just let go, it made me relax.

I took more breaths to pull myself together.

I owed it to myself to be a better king than my father was. To prove to myself that he was just a stupid man. A man who was under the same pressures and couldn't hold his own.

A man who crumbled under the weight and took it out on everyone else.

I got down, planted my two feet back on the ground, and climbed into my seat again.

I couldn't just go back to the kingdom after that, could I?

I sat in the car and stared out the window.

That damned window.

This damned car.

It's seen a lot more than it should have, poor thing.

I took a breath.

Embraced the new calm.

Life would start again when I got back to the castle. It always did.

For now, I could pretend like nothing happened. I could compose myself.

I needed to have a clear and level-headed way of thinking before going back.

After all, and besides the constant death that seems to look over me, my life is pretty okay.

To be honest though, I was starting to worry that my inability to stick around when I got overwhelmed would be seen as a red flag.

I mean shit, I couldn't even say I loved him without running. I hid away like a coward.

Was I even marriage material anyway?

I groaned, leaning forward and smacking my forehead on the steering wheel, my face jammed into the car horn.

I could let him make that decision on his own.

It wasn't my place to dictate his feelings, I already had enough on my plate.

I pulled in another deep breath, sat up, and started the drive back to the kingdom.

My fingers trembled as I tucked the little box into my breast pocket.

I was a nervous wreck.

I spent a few days thinking about it, went to a jeweler, and had a ring made.

A few rings made.

Multiple rings were made.

I knew his two things were amethyst and silver.

So here I was, different kinds of stones, different bands, so many to pick from.

I'd spent a few days away from the castle to help said jeweler since I'd been so rushed, which I think surprised them.

Hell, he now had so many that could swap them out day to day if he wanted.

I had a plan. A plan to keep away those vulnerability-snatching vultures.

I shook off the nerves and knocked on the door.

He opened it and looked me over, a smile immediately stretching across his cheeks and reaching his eyes.

The creases in his face made my heart skip just like when I first saw them. Everything about him looked like it belonged, and if I had all day I would commit it all to memory.

“Can we talk?” I asked, trying to hide my nervousness.

He nodded and invited me in, just him and the room, neatly kept and tidy.

He sat on the edge of his bed and invited me to join him.

I stretched my arm toward him, hesitating a bit.

“Vegetta, I meant it when I said I loved you,” I said, feeling increasingly more nervous with every sound that tumbled out of me.

“Is everything okay?” he looked at me, grabbing my hand when he realized something was going on.

I reached into the pocket and fumbled with the box a bit.

“I hope so,” I smiled. “Vegetta, I wanted to know if you wanted to marry me.”

Chapter Text

“Vegetta, I wanted to know if you wanted to marry me.”

I couldn't back down now and I already said the words, so I pulled the box open.

He stared at it for a moment, no words, just fluttering lashes and quiet breaths.

The longer we sat there the more I felt the fear clawing up my insides.

He looked around and then looked up at me.

“Why do this in private?” he asked, taking the ring and putting it on his finger.

“I didn't want to pressure you into saying yes, I love you so much I don't want you to make this decision because everyone is looking at you.”

I admitted shyly, watching as he extended his arm to look at the ring from afar.

“Do you like it?” I then asked.

“It's a bit big, no?” he giggled.

“I have more, you can choose.” I quickly scrambled through the multiple different boxes in my pockets.

I opened them and watched him laugh.

I could listen to that laugh all day.

“¿Por qué, Foolish?” I watched him wipe a tear from the corner of his eye.

“I didn't want to get one you hated,” I allowed myself a small laugh with him.

He smiled and grabbed my hands.

“I should warn you,” I felt my smile falter. “Other kingdoms don't always respect marriages like this.” I wanted to hold him, keep him and his child safe from judgemental eyes.

“Yo sé,” he reassured me.

“If people know we’re engaged it could put a target on your back,” I explained.

“Ponré el anillo en un collar.” he shrugged.

He was beaming, and I didn't want to take it from him with my pessimism.

“Bueno, si puedo elegir,” he looked through his ring options with another giggle.

“They’re all yours.” I pushed them closer to me.

“¿En serio? Why not sell them?” he started putting them all on.

“Well, it was short notice so I had to help them make it.” I shrugged.

I watched him stare at me, intimidating purple eyes burning holes in my face.

He leaped into my arms, squeezing me tight.

“So is that a yes?” I asked, wanting to hear him say it.

“Por supuesto,” he scoffed, pressing his mouth into my shoulder.

He pulled away, slowly taking the rings off one at a time.

He put them all back into the boxes, sliding one onto his finger.

“Este,” he showed me one of the smaller ones. An intricate silver band with a nice drill pattern, and smaller amethyst stones studded into the silver.

A knock on the door startled us.

“I’ll get that, you put those away?” I offered with a smile.

He stacked the boxes and then started walking away, and I held my end of the bargain.

I opened the door, and to my surprise, found my sister standing there.

“Oh, what are you doing here?” Tina raised her brow at me.

“What do you mean? I feel like I'm one of the least surprising people to find in here.” My arms crossed over my chest as I leaned on the doorframe.

“Mon amour,” Vegetta called.

I looked over my shoulder to see him struggling to clasp a chain around his neck.

“One sec,” I muttered then closed it on her. I flew to his side faster than I realized, immediately helping him.

He grabbed my hand and kissed my rings, luring a deep red blush on my cheeks.

“¿Quién estaba en la puerta?” I watched him tuck the ring into his shirt collar.

“Princess Tina,” I answered, quite distracted by my thoughts.

This guy wanted to marry me.

He knew the risks and he wanted to marry me.

“Pa Vege knew mi mamá was sick when they got married.”

She knew what she was doing when she said that to me.

Proving that he would fight for this as much as I would, even if the odds were stacked against him.

“Go to the door,” he pushed me away with a laugh.

I stole a kiss from him before following his orders.

The sound of the doorknob to the study jostling aggressively made me jump, in turn ruining the letter I was writing to the Underworld Kingdom.

“What the hell?” I grumbled.

The doorknob continued to struggle and then a rushed rap of knocking filled the room.

I needed to make sure I had no distractions, including my fiancé coming in to “rearrange books” again, so I had locked the door.

I got up and opened it, immediately getting pushed a bit out of the way.

A person in a dark cloak slinked inside, closing the door as if hiding from someone.

I watched the person as they caught their breath.

I backed up, reaching for a fire poker in the empty fireplace.

“Foolish?” the voice was vaguely familiar yet not at all.

“Who are you?” I pulled it in front of me.

He put his hands up as if to surrender.

“Show yourself,” I pointed the sharp fire hook toward the hood of the cloak.

He pulled it off slowly.

I didn't recognize him at first, a streak of white in a head full of brown, facial hair that grew a bit too long and unruly, and bags under his eyes that made me grateful for a full night’s rest.

Cellbit

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I lowered my weapon but squeezed my grip on it.

“I could ask you the same,” he snickered, looking over at the desk.

“This is my castle.” I shook my head in disbelief.

The audacity of this absolute buffoon to come back after all this time and act like nothing changed.

“What do you mean your castle?”

“You don't know anything that happened? Nothing about the disaster you left in your wake?”

“Damn, that bad?” he asked sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

I stood there in disbelief, trying to find a way to explain it without doing too much. Without reliving it all over again.

It was a late night of work, and most of everyone was already sound asleep.

“Follow me.” I threw the poker down, skewering it into the floor.

We walked to the sleeping quarters, where I led him to the old family portrait, covered by a large white sheet that was lazily draped over it.

I pulled the thing off to reveal the burn marks.

“What happened here?”

I rolled the sheet up some more and tossed it aside.

“Our drunkard asshole father happened.” I sighed.

“Drunkard?” the playfulness in his tone had totally disappeared.

“You really don't know.” I knew he didn't need to hear it again, but I was still surprised. “He started drinking after our mother died. He followed soon after.”

“How did they die?” a frown tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“You really don't want to know.” I left it at that.

We wandered down the hall, past his old room, and up one of the towers.

“Why did you come here?” I asked.

“I got a letter about Quackity being sick.” he leaned against the low wall.

“Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but he’s gone too.” I huffed.

He wiped his eyes.

“I can show you their graves eventually if you want. Let you visit them and talk again, get your closure.” I offered.

It was more than I think he deserved, though maybe that was just my own resentment.

This guy was living my life, blissfully unaware of the pain that he left in his path.

“So you're king now?” he mumbled.

“Yeah, and I'm not gonna lie, it fuckin’ sucks.” I exhaled, the weight of finally saying that out loud releasing from my shoulders.

“Why are you still here then?” he made it seem so obvious.

“And leave all these innocent people in the hands of Tina? Right.” I sneered. “She’s even less responsible than you.”

He shrugged it off.

“I couldn't see myself pursuing my personal life at the same time as my professional life.” he looked at me again.

“I’m doing it,” I hummed, uncaring what the hell he thought but confident enough to rub it in.

At the end of the day, he was my snobby “perfect” older brother, even if he looked like his permanent home address was attached to whatever the geolocator on a boat said.

“Guess you’re taking the role of King better than you're letting up.” he tried to hide his curiosity with dismissiveness.

“Well, someone in this damn family has to.” I shrugged it off. “Come on, let's get you cleaned up. You can stay the night.” I started going back down the steps.

I heard him begin to follow me, thankfully.

The last thing I needed was another death in this cursed place.

When we got to his old door I opened it to that strange wind.

Dust particles sparkled and danced in the moonlight.

“It's been a while since we’ve seen more than a glimpse of this room, I apologize.” I pulled out my torch and lit it.

Cellbit carried himself hesitantly to the corridor. He mumbled something to himself before shaking it off.

“No one comes around here, so I’ll come find you in the morning, you should be okay,” I explained.

“Get some rest, we can talk more in the morning.” I hummed, crossing my arms over my chest.

As I started to walk back I felt a heavy feeling in my chest.

He and I wanted the same things, and he was one of the few family members I even had left.

“Wait,” I turned back around and held the door open, just as it was going to swing closed.

“What’s up?” he looked worried, like he would explode on contact with anything.

“I don't know how long you're planning on staying, but I’ll be getting married in the next few months,” I spoke even softer, afraid of anyone that could possibly see hear me.

“Already making deals? That mean’ there will be a bunch of little Foolish’s running everywhere?” he cracked a smile.

Honestly, I forgot how little he knew of me. Always had been distant, probably our parents’ fault somehow.

“Well, guess it's a little too late for that, technically speaking.” I half shrugged. “You can't tell anyone, for the safety of the Kingdom,” I then shot him that same look he gave me nearly a year ago.

“Promise,” he nodded, letting us part ways for the night.

Without his reckless actions, I don't know if I would have ever met Vegetta or Leo, and for that, I would thank him until every star in the sky burnt out.

My heart was racing as I waited for everyone to leave their rooms for the day.

I paid a visit to Miyoung for my rations to pass even more time.

Once I was sure everyone was either gone or still dead asleep, I made my way to my brother’s room.

As if he knew I was coming, the door opened before I could even knock.

He looked better than last night, managed to find a comb, and fixed his hair, the dark circles not as prominent and puffy.

He had his cloak on again.

“Let’s talk in the tower for a bit.” I took a step back to let him out.

I had him go first, making sure no one happened to come by.

Which I was grateful for when little purple eyes peered around the corner.

“Pa Fulich!” she came running down the hall with her arms open.

“Slow down!” I blurted out when she tripped a bit on her own feet.

I never thought I would be parenting a child, but the fear has already settled in the depths of my body.

She ignored me, pressing forward with as much might as before.

“Buenos días, Leo.” I couldn't stop the smile she brought to my face as I scooped her up.

“Pa Vege is looking for you,” she explained, squirming around in my arms.

“I know, I’m sorry. I am very busy this morning, can you tell him we will all catch up for lunchtime?” I asked as I put her back down.

She nodded running back, ignoring me when I asked her to slow down again.

I went back to climbing up the tower only to see Cellbit sitting on one of the steps not too far from me.

Always good at sneaking around, guess some things never changed.

When we got to the top he shot me a smug look that I could feel without even looking at him.

“What did you say yesterday? ‘Technically speaking’?” he grumbled.

“Yeah, I mean, she's not technically mine but,” I felt my voice trailed off.

We had talked about it many times before, me becoming her stepfather. How excited she was, how scared I’d been.

She was so small and had already been through so much.

“We can talk about that later,” I waved the conversation off. “How is life on the other side?”

It was a selfish question honestly, but in this place, I was in charge.

“Well, I adopted one of the abandoned boys on the ship, I got married, I live in a little fisherman’s shack.”

It didn't sound terrible.

It was quite similar without the “glory” of being royalty.

“You have a job?” I tried to make it sound casual.

“I work in the fish market with my husband. We left the cargo ship work after I fled, didn't know if I’d be allowed back.” he shrugged.

“That was smart. Part of the reason I'm not letting anyone see you is because, well, the kingdom hates you.”

He nodded with an extended sigh.

“I can fix that, you know. You and your family can live here, no royal work required.” I offered.

Ostracizing him any further would make me more than hypocritical.

“I don't know, this place holds a lot of pain, plus my kids just got into school.”

I could have pried, asked more questions, but I just hummed and nodded.

It was awkward, talking to him after all this time. He’d been one of my biggest bullies all my childhood, yet here we were.

The power imbalance now swapped, I couldn't stoop so low.

“What about you?” he asked with a smile.

“Well, I met a man and he has a child,” I shrugged like it didn't mean the world to me. “They’re letting me become a part of their family, it’s an honour.”

He pushed my arm playfully, which a part of my subconscious flinched from.

“Well, look at you! I'm glad you found your person. You look less,” he mumbled to find the word. “Miserable.”

I wanted to punch his teeth in at that one.

“You say that like you weren't part of the reason I was so miserable all the time.” I scoffed, leaning on one of the stone pillars.

“I wasn't that mean to you, was I?” he looked at me with a face I knew too well.

He was genuine, but not enough to apologize.

“Well, you weren't exactly nice to me.” I laughed.

It was obviously full of pain, I didn't care enough to pretend like I was over it.

He just looked at me like he didn't understand, which made me more upset than I would have been if he had said something.

“I didn't like fighting, I wanted to play my instruments and make music. You liked it so much that you fought every single combatant across the four kingdoms until nobody wanted to fight you.” I reminded him, watching him nod as he followed along.

“What did you do when you stopped having someone to spar with?” I asked him curiously, wondering what he thought of those times.

He thought back a moment.

It wasn't even that long ago but it felt like it had been eons.

“I started play fighting with you, you know, you were the second oldest of our brothers.” he shrugged.

“Yeah, except I hated fighting, and I never fought back because I didn't know how.”

I watched his face harden as he looked out toward the coastline.

“Cellbit, you never asked if I wanted to fight, you would just hit me and hit me until I learned how to dodge.”

I felt pain from the past begin to bubble inside again.

“Then when I learned how to dodge well enough, you got sloppy. When Dad forced me to go with you to spar? When I defeated you in the Colosseum on accident and you yelled at me in front of everyone?”

I couldn't believe he didn't remember me begging him to stop hitting me. Or maybe he did and just pushed it out of memory.

It would always be hard to hold onto things that made you feel like the villain in someone’s story. I was sure I'd done it before too.

“Did you genuinely think I looked at you like my cool older brother?”

He slouched over the wall and scratched at his stubble.

“I guess I never really thought too hard about it,” he admitted, biting the inside of his cheek.

“Yeah well, that's not even scratching the surface of how I felt afterward.” I sighed.

He didn't want to look at me, I could tell.

“And you kept my secret all this time?” he asked.

“Only soul I told was Quackity on his way out.” I nodded.

“Why?”

“Wasn’t my story to tell. Plus our dad hated my guts, our mom died, we went to war.”

He sat in silence for a while, staring off into the outside world.

I looked out there with him, wondering what could have possibly been going on in his head.

“I hope you learned to do good from all that,” he startled me and offered some sort of kindness.

More remorse than I honestly expected from him.

“Yeah well, I only use violence to save the people I care about.” I shrugged again, pulling my bag of rations onto the wall, a wordless offer that he took up.

“You alright?” he asked, nervously nibbling on something he randomly picked up.

“Nothing I wasn't prepared for.”