I hissed out a breath as Lloyd undid the bracelets on my wrists. Lloyd send me an apologetic glance.

"Sorry, Princess." Lloyd murmured, and despite him ignoring my request to call me by my name, the softness of his voice made my heart melt as I watched him. He gently turned my wrists, inspecting the red skin, as it had begun to swell up from the burns. There was a few small blisters forming on my left wrist, the one that had been burned the worst. "You're lucky this isn't worse." Lloyd finally told me, turning away to grab some stuff from the medical cabinet behind him.

"I know. Hutchins saved me before it could." I said quietly. Lloyd frowned, setting the stuff beside me.

"Zane is usually better at this stuff, but he is still at the Palace." Lloyd told me as he took my hands in his again. He pressed a finger against the burn, but instead of it hurting, his finger was cool as he moved them along my wrist. "Not quite ice, but to help with the pain a little before I clean it." Lloyd continued, and I noticed the tips of his finger had a light blue coating now, then he was pulling away.

"I didn't know you could control ice." I breathed out, genuinely surprised by the discovery. Lloyd, on the other hand, only shrugged as he turned for a bucket.

"I'm mastering the elements of my teammates you could say. It's my destiny I guess." I hummed in reply as Lloyd put the bucket in front of me. "Dip your hands in." Lloyd instructed. I hesitated, looking in and only finding my reflection staring back. I gave Lloyd a questioning look, but he only gestured to the bucket again, so I did as he had told me to.

At first it stung, and I winced, then Lloyd was gently grabbing one of my arms, lifting it out and dabbing at the burn with something on a rag. Bubbles came off of my skin when he returned into the water, then he did the same with my other one.

"I'm just cleaning it." Lloyd informed and I nodded, not knowing what else to say. Soon, I was pulling my hands from the water again and Lloyd made a quick movement with his hands. The water pulled off, sliding back into the bucket, making my hands dry again.

"Woah." I whispered, turning my hands. Lloyd gave a small smile to my reaction, then I found him softly putting ointment around the burns on my wrists. "I don't know, Mr. Green Ninja. You say Zane is better at this, but you're quite the entertainer. You could be a doctor for a living." Lloyd huffed a laugh.

"With my lack in good grades and schooling? Unlikely." I shrugged as Lloyd moved to my other wrist.

"You're very charismatic. And, with you being the Green Ninja, they'll be too starstuck to care." I told him. Lloyd glanced up, eyebrows raised.

"Are you starstruck, Princess?" Lloyd questioned. I looked back at him as he reached to the side, grabbing gauze to wrap over my wrists.

"I'd be a liar if I said no, which is technically against our royalty oath. But I'm hoping that doesn't feed your ego too much." I said, and Lloyd sent me a lopsided smile, beginning to wrap my left wrist first.

"I give you my Ninja oath that I know how to keep it in control. Kai, on the other hand... has yet to learn." Lloyd used medical tape to help keep the side of the gauze down when he was finished, then he moved to the other arm.

"I am almost certain you don't have a Ninja oath. You're just mocking me saying our royalty oath." I countered and Lloyd gave a mock gasp.

"How would you know? You a super Ninja fan? Who is your favorite?" Lloyd asked, an evergrowing smile pulling at his lips.

"I'm not boosting your self-confidence, Lloyd." Lloyd pouted at me as he finished the other wrist too.

"Come on, Princess. Being the favorite Ninja of royalty is the biggest accomplishment I could make. I won't tell." Lloyd bent down to my height, giving me puppy dog eyes. I only stared back, not going to give way, because it was the Green Ninja, of course it was. Not because he was supposedly the most powerful and leader of the group, but also because of how he grew up. Everyone came to know how he gave up part of his childhood to save the world, though the media was never told how many years. In my time of royalty, it felt the same way. Childhood slipped by quickly, and the way we both came to our roles made me relate to him.

"Am I... interrupting?" Harumi spoke from the doorway, making me and Lloyd jump. I hadn't realized until she had shown up how close we had gotten while joking around.

"No." Lloyd said, being the first one to recover. "I was just finished bandaging (y/n)'s wrists. Is everything okay?" Lloyd questioned, his childish manner slipping away in seconds as he became serious again. Harumi bit her lip, eyes flickering between the two of us.

"The Palace. We are approaching it now." Harumi told him quietly. Lloyd's face dropped in realization, then he nodded. Lloyd turned to me again, holding out his hand and helping me off of the table I had been sitting on.

"My bracelets-" I started, but Lloyd shook his head.

"You can't wear them right now, even over your bandages. They could make the burn injuries worse." Lloyd stated, and I frowned.

"They belonged to my Mom." I murmured, face falling. Lloyd sighed, nodding his head.

"I know. I'll keep them safe, okay? So when you can wear them, I'll hand them right over to you." Lloyd picked them up, slipping them into one of his gi pockets as if to prove his point. I gave a nod, then I let him lead me back to the bridge. "I'll have Zane check your leg when he gets here, he'll be able to tell what damage is done." Lloyd told me as we walked, and I nodded, though my mind was already far away from my leg or even my wrists. I was stuck in what the state of the Palace would be after we had left it.

I stared at the fallen Palace. Most of the fires had burnt out by now, but the smoke still billowed through the air as the Bounty was lowered for the others to climb aboard. I could already feel the lump in my throat grow as I stared at what had been my home the last fifteen years of my life. In the distance, sirens screamed out, but I already knew staring at the debris, no one else would have survived.

The boat was lowered, allowing the other Ninja to climb aboard. I didn't look back to them, only trailing my eyes over the Palace. From here I could pinpoint the street corner I last saw my mother, and now this would most likely be my last time seeing the Palace for a while.

"The Emperor and Empress?" Harumi finally spoke. "Where is Hutchins? Did they-" I looked down, awaiting the answer I already knew, but hoping for a better one.

"I'm sorry. They didn't make it." Nya answered gently. I heard the slight creak of the boards as Harumi turned, coming near the railing with me. My hands gripped the wood of the railing as I rest my weight on my good leg. Tears welled up in my eyes the longer I stared at the smoke that tainted the morning sky. Suddenly, I turned away from the sight and pushed through the group.

"Princess, wait-" One of the ninjas started, but I ignored them as I made my way to the ladder and made my way down.

"(y/n)?" Harumi called, but even her I ignored as I started down one of the halls of the ship. I couldn't handle being up there now, surrounded by everyone else. So I pushed through one of the doors, barely noticing the beds here as I passed them. Instead, I took favor for the hidden space beside one of the bed towards the back of the room. Outside of the room, I faintly heard the near-silent footsteps of the Ninja and Harumi's louder ones, but I paid them no mind as I slid into the space.

I pulled my legs to my chest the best I could, my left knee still aching, a silent reminder Zane needed to check it. For a moment, I just stared at my bandaged wrists. For years I had been used to staring at the bracelets there, my first token for the mother I had lost, and now this was my second one for the family I had lost. I had always known the life of the Palace and of royalty, and thought I always would. But now I was forced out of it.

"I can't find her. She just disappeared!" I heard Jay cry out.

"My sister has always been good at hiding when she wants to be. When she missed her mother or if she had an argument with our parents, she would hide to think it out." Harumi replied, her voice soft. Murmurs of voices followed, but I tuned it out.

My chest was tight as I clenched my fingers together, then I squeezed my eyes shut. I let out a sharp breath and grit my teeth as tears began to spill from my eyes. I thought of my parents- though distant in recent events- and the family they had given me over the years, or even Hutchins, who I had always been close to ever since I first arrived at the Palace. He had been who I confided in when I missed my mother, or even when I was struggling with the responsibilities of being a Jade Princess. Now, I didn't have him anymore either.

"Princess?" I jumped at the voice, almost too quiet to hear. When I looked up, Lloyd was kneeling down beside me. A frown pulled at his lips as he trailed his eyes over me. "I used to hide here too. As a kid." Lloyd answered my unsaid question. I quickly wiped at my eyes, sniffling.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, turning my eyes away from him. I was suddenly embarrassed by how I had ran and hid. My parents would've chastised me- said it was not like a Princess, or any royalty of that matter, to run away from their duties.

"You don't need to be. You just lost your family, your home. I know how devastating that can feel." I frowned, wiping at my face.

"You mean because of your dad." Lloyd nodded as he moved to opposite of me. His legs kept me from leaving as he extended them out, but that was okay. I hadn't been planning to go anywhere in the first place.

"When I lost Dad, I hadn't expected it either. It was a decision made in the moment, before I could even say goodbye- even though I was the one to send him off. I lost my Uncle too, I lost him recently. We can't find him, now." Lloyd looked down, biting his lip. "I'm sorry about your parents, and Hutchins. I can't tell you it'll stop hurting because I know it won't. But I can promise you that you'll get stronger, as long as you don't shut everyone else out. You can't hide away from this stuff forever, or it'll consume you. Make you do things later that you might regret. Okay, Princess?" Lloyd turned his emerald eyes back to me and I nodded. I understood what he meant. Hutchins must have told me something similar when my mother first left me too.

"Can you stay with me? Please?" I suddenly asked as Lloyd moved to get up. Lloyd looked surprised, but then he settled back down. Lloyd gave me a soft smile, one that made my heart flutter.

"I'm not going anywhere." Lloyd replied as he leaned his head back. I tried returned his smile, feeling a little shaky, then we both fell into silence as I sat there.