Yup! You guys are right, Rachel was Codename: RAPUNZEL so cookie for you (: And thanks for pointing out my errs, guys, I'll fix them! Alright soo...I love this chapter. It's my gift to you since I started school today. Enjoy! And to everyone already back at school and finding time to keep up with me, haha you're awesome sauce! You really are.
"One breath...One breath for all...So tender."
"How...did your mom survive?
If the children from the INNOCENCE program died instantly from the gene...why didn't she...
...and...why didn't you?"
...
...
...
"S-Sir?...C-Can you...Can you tell me about...m-my mother?
I'm...I-I'm not afraid or angry...n-not anymore. I promise...
Story time...M-Make it story time."
...
...
...
Okay, Sandman, do your thing. You're good at bedtime stories.
...
...
...
So here is one, from 24 years ago.
Before touchscreens, functioning prototype heat sensors, and badass weapons...there were simpler firearms, telephones, and spies who still existed and did all the dangerous stunts.
There were the real people that celebrities played out every in spy cliché on screen and on paper.
And among them, there was a girl, doing the real thing.
Rashmi was a twenty-five-year old woman, strong, fast, and brave. She was fierce and fearless and proudly worked for the company as a covert agent engaged in the duty of espionage.
She was also the kind of girl who'd staple your forehead if you messed with her.
Best suited to environmental instigation and protection, Rashmi was the best field agent in the company's first generation of spies. It was once a government-funded agency that only worked in system operations, but after one very wealthy man decided he had a mission to buy, take over, and revamp the place, it gave people like Rashmi the chance to fight for people beyond simple law enforcement and desk administration. In her time, she saved many dignitaries, and looked out for her partners like a born leader and a true warrior.
Her greatest witness protection mission however, ended up having her fall for the target she was protecting.
But back then, Rashmi didn't anticipate any kind of emotional entanglements. She was usually too busy looking after her team and turning down dates this way and that. So when she grabbed her folder and headed out for her month-long assignment to the tiny little island, she'd been sure that nothing eventful passed nightly stakeouts and profiling her involved parties would happen.
And profiling, she did.
On her intended killer, her intended target, and the country itself: Punjam Hy Loo.
It was pretty when she first landed, but she couldn't really appreciate it as she got straight to work.
The Prince Haroom Hypunjam was to be protected from a South Asian criminal and bounty hunter. He'd been ID'd by her company as the leader in a South Asian drug cartel, a 'marijuana maharajah' as her partners joked (until she smacked them upside the head).
But his codename, and what the Lulus (the locals) merely called hi, was 'The Monkey King'...
Why?
Well, Rashmi didn't really care why but liked to think that maybe he was incredibly hairy.
Turned out though, it was because he was very crafty.
Not to mention vengeful.
He made it his goal to kill the soon-to-be-crowned prince after the man exposed his attempt to cover up weed grow ops on the island's beloved peppermint plots and imprisoned him for his greed. But when he got out, Rashmi was assigned to protect the prince and track the hunter down should he reappear in the Punjam rainforests.
As for the Prince himself...
The first time Rashmi met the taller man, she wasn't all that smitten. In fact, she missed the way his mouth fell slightly open and his cheeks burned when she bowed and he realised that she was his bodyguard. Prince Haroom was handsome sure, but she wasn't all that into the quiet types. She always thought she'd end up in some epic, broken romance with another spy in the company. That hadn't happened yet but hey! She was a woman, she could dream.
So while he took her hand and warned her to be careful on the island's rainforests, all she did was smile and say it would be a piece of cake.
Haroom scratched for head for hours after that, wondering what she meant by that expression, until he nervously assumed she wanted to eat cake with him. He had it explained to him later when he sent the kitchen on a mad dash for baking ingredients.
...
The days dragged on...
The Prince's assassin never appeared but it didn't mean he wasn't out there. So Rashmi went about her job on the island, determined and courageous as always while the Prince watched on, always worried and secretly adoring her. But smart as Rashmi was, she picked up on it right away and teased him incessantly when they were alone. She'd pretend to make advances then left the handsome Thai flustered when she moved away with a coy smile.
"Oops! Sorry, your highness!" she'd joke, and Haroom would pull at his collar and just smile. He wasn't shy, he just knew he was out of her league.
By royal protocol, royals were allowed to choose their own lovers and who they wanted to sit on their court whether rich or poor. They believed in diversify, as was their faith in the rainbow, and belief that in all things big and small, everyone was special. So Haroom was still searching, wondering what he wanted in a wife, in a queen and partner at the throne. But in those days, it was nice to have her attention.
He just had to be careful, as he and his family always was.
There was a saying though that the locals had about the Hypunjams, that they 'loved too fast and too much'. Because as much as they protected the homes of their people, it was the people who had to protect the hearts of the royal family.
Rashmi didn't understand at first until one night, she asked the Prince himself before saying goodnight to him after her nightly round. She knocked on his door, already in her pajamas but heading on to the room she and her partners had setup as their office space to drop off a file. He was surprised at first when he opened the door, but Rashmi had more conviction than most people gave her credit. She could make anything look like a business interaction when it was completely personal. Which, you know, it was.
The words left her mouth before he could even offer a proper goodnight, before he could even comprehend that she wasn't in a business suit or spy clothes for the first time.
"Why are they trying to protect your heart?" she asked like she was asking about the weather. Her charm, right here.
Haroom blinked down at her. She blinked back up. She looked like a normal person...and he was ashamed to say that he liked it.
Eventually, her eyebrows furrowed and she frowned slightly.
"How come?"
Haroom had no immediate answer. He looked sideways before he abruptly walked back to his large bed near the door and sat on it.
Rashmi was going to apologize and leave, feeling for once out of place for talking so randomly to someone so important. But when she pressed her fingertips to her lips (as she did when she was always nervous), Haroom dropped his gaze to the floor.
He simply shrugged and ran a hand through his black hair.
"Ah..." he started before he dropped his hand in his lap and gestured for the beautiful Indian woman to step inside his room. Rashmi peeked beyond his doors wondering if it was protocol but realised she didn't care. She then shut the door and gave the Crown Prince an almost shy smile (for once again) as she sat across from him, perching herself on the chair.
The warm roaring fire from his bedroom fireplace kept the nightly breezes at bay. It was known thing that the wind seemed to love swirling spires, golden hallways, and open marble windows of the castle – because of it, the palace was always cool.
He then explained what the people meant by 'protecting the hearts of the royal family'.
It was a supposed curse.
The Hypunjam family had a long list of betrayals as old as the mountains. Their hearts were always too big, too open. Yet while the people loved them for always being too compassionate, too selfless, many times, the great relationships they made with certain people would turn out to be tricks of lies or deceit. They always had their hearts broken in some form or way because of it.
He was of no exception.
And in the dark of the night and the warmth of the fire, Haroom explained that The Monkey King, who'd almost destroyed his country's namesake and was out to kill him...had actually been his dear friend growing up.
Rashmi put a hand to her mouth and said nothing. But she visibly trembled with anger in her dark eyes.
Haroom looked away to block out her scornful expression.
The so-called friend, Raja-Sun, whom he'd given everything to had turned around and became a thief and an exploiter. And while Haroom said he never really wanted for anything, even growing up as a prince, he did have one request: for his old friend, even though he knew he was never coming back.
Rashmi could understand what he meant by 'never really wanting anything' from the first moment they met. Haroom always seemed very humble about everything he was given, very down-to-earth. She could even see it in the way the Prince dressed himself so plainly. And when she bid him goodnight after their talk, he was like a regular man, giving into her coquettish smiles and scratching his head bemusedly.
After that, she looked at Haroom more closely. She still teased him, but she gave him more attention than she realised. Because despite being on dignitary protection, Haroom actually was interesting beyond his quietness.
She watched him go about his duties as a ruler, his enjoyment with his people, and his impromptu vanishing so no one could find him at random times. To throw off any mysterious hunter's gaze on him, of course.
In those waning weeks, her fascination grew, along with the absence of any disturbance in the forests.
They thought that maybe The Monkey King might have left anyway for a new place to conquest. They thought they could get back to their peace...
...but the peace between didn't last for long.
...
Haroom's old friend was still hiding in the Punjam's rainforests.
And the more Rashmi knew where to find the hiding Haroom more than necessary, the more he spied on her.
Raja-Sun studied her movements even though she was near impossible to track, being the covert agent she was. But he was one of the best bounty hunters in South and Southeast Asia since he abandoned the island and his friendship with the Prince. Eventually, four days before Rashmi was assigned to leave and a new bodyguard would appear, he saw his chance. His old friend Haroom was practicing his Muay Thai kickboxing in the one place he didn't know existed – a secret garden hidden on the other side of the mountain where the palace sat. Sticking out from a balcony, it nestled itself right in the snug of the cliff.
He scaled the wall with great climbing ability, and a gun (he'd managed to grab during his escape out of the Punjam prison) at his holster. It only had one bullet left in it, and he was ensuring it for Haroom.
Inside, Haroom was busy trying to practice his skills. Rashmi offered to help since she deemed his skills pathetic and teased him. He still had a hard time understanding what she said half the time since she grew up in the States and was more unrefined than he first realised. But Haroom came to conclusion that was what he liked about her. While she was gracious, she was always trying to make him smile.
And Rashmi never said, but she thought he had a nice smile. As the two continued to spar (or...it was more Haroom failing miserably and Rashmi trying to support him), the kingpin made his appearance.
They had a major standoff.
Raja-Sun swooped in and undercover partners of Rashmi exposing themselves for a full-on fight. It was pure chaos, a madness plaguing the poor balcony as men and women went up in arms and down from the blows the bounty hunter's powerful fists. Soon, they were all down and like a demon out of the shadows, he advanced on the Prince.
Rashmi was clutching her side. She'd gotten kicked while trying to protect one of her partners and actively playing her part as the Prince's bodyguard by staying close to him. Haroom was bitter and cold, warning his friend of his earlier mistakes and his condemnation of their friendship. But the friend didn't listen and without much decision, he lifted his gun–
–and aimed it right at Rashmi.
He knew the girl would be his bigger threat and he wanted to watch the Prince suffer before he found another means to end his life.
But neither were prepared when Haroom selflessly pushed himself in front of Rashmi and covered her...just as the trigger was pulled.
Rashmi screamed, terrified for the first time during a mission about losing someone. She grew enraged and when The Monkey King made his escape, she wanted to dash after him. She even made it to the edge of the garden's balcony until Haroom called out to her.
"Wait!"
When she turned, seeing all the blood on his shirt nearly made her cry. He told her not to go after him, that the jump from this height would surely kill him. He didn't know what he'd do if something happened to her. And against Rashmi's usual ferocity, she understood and she stayed by his side, clutching his hand and realising then that what she felt for the prince went beyond a simple platonic friendship. Her partners went after the man for her instead after they recovered.
Several times, she pressed her fingertips to her lips to stop herself from crying – she refused to cry in front of anyone.
But it was hard not to be swept up in the emotions.
Haroom took a bullet for her. A prince took a dive for someone he barely knew, for someone who was more than capable of handling and accepting a fate like death.
And when that thought plagued her, Rashmi bit down on her lip.
But a sob escaped anyway...and she cried until the castle doctors finally appeared.
"I-I'm sorry..." she kept apologizing and Haroom looked at her in shock as he struggled to keep his eyes clear.
"I thought you said I was boring," he joked and she wiped her eyes bitterly.
"You were," she laughed. "But like all things big and small, everyone is special...r-right?"
And he grinned as he kissed her hand.
Later, as Haroom went through critical care, Rashmi was told by her team that Raja-Sun was found with a bruised tailbone and was captured. And with international police help, he would not be escaping jail cells anytime soon.
Rashmi then stayed by Haroom's bedside for an extra day despite reprimand from her superiors. She never stayed longer than she needed to for a mission...and with so many new missions yet to be assigned to, she couldn't afford the luxury.
Still, Rashmi didn't listen.
Because for once, she let her heart (which was always devoted to the good of others), be selfish and devoted to one man.
One clumsy, caring man. Who just happened to be a prince.
Two days passed...
Rashmi passed out next to Haroom's bedside, her face splashed with all the exhaustion hidden under her fighting facade from being a field agent for so long. She almost didn't feel Haroom stir until his hand accidentally brushed hers. When it did, they both jolted awake – until all they saw was each other.
Rashmi blushed, nervous for the first time in such a long time, and grinned warmly – because all she could see was the selfless man. And Haroom grasped her hand confidently, brave and not all at shy anymore when she was around – because all he could see was the woman with a heart like a princess even when she laughed into his bed sheet, realizing how cliché and ironic this was. The royal who fell in love with the bodyguard? Opposites attract? Yeah, that was one right out of the books!
But she didn't care. Maybe she could learn to love someone as humble and quiet as Haroom.
If he survived, that is – which he did...
...and so did all the affection they harboured for each other.
...
The final day...
In one month, a lot had changed.
Rashmi was ready to depart back to the States, to her home, and Haroom saw her off formally before his court and her partners in the throne room. They all paid their respects to each other, being very courteous about their jobs well done and the countries each party would continue to protect. He was moving on his own again after two days of rest and everyone fell back into their regular roles.
But before they could fully depart, as each agents went to collect the last of their things from their rooms, Haroom pulled Rashmi into a secret alcove in the hallway for his own personal goodbye.
She teased him that he should be consider being a covert operative one day until he shot her a confident, mischievous grin and said that he'd maybe consider it. It left her weak in the knees.
He then pulled her head to his and he gave her a kiss that the operative wasn't opposed to.
They fell in love after...but Rashmi's job prevented her from being with him. Their only chance was that they could kept in touch through Ty Bangkot who was a trusted outside ally to the company. Haroom knew him as an outside principal agent for the company. He was a handler for a network of agents in Southeast Asia and since he had to attend many public events on the company's behalf, they had known each other for a long time, until he moved over and became Punjam's Prime Minister. It was how Ty knew that Haroom needed help.
Agent Bangkot was then puzzled when Rashmi wanted him to send messages to Prince Haroom on her behalf just to see how he was doing.
Ty always lifted an eyebrow at that. "Just how 'he's doing'? Seriously?"
And Rashmi always cocked one hip and put her hand on it.
"Go on, gimme that look," she dared him. "But you'll be hearing from my boyfriend."
Bangkot couldn't stop the smile on his face. "Boyfriend, huh?"
And Rashmi grinned proudly.
She and the Prince of Punjam Hy Loo kept in contact through the many months as Haroom did his part for his country and Rashmi did hers for the many others. As they grew closer, Haroom grew more comfortable speaking out on behalf of himself and Rashmi was more careful of the people around her.
Then at the height of both their successes, Project GUARDIAN was mysteriously created.
...
At the time, the GUARDIAN program only recruited very few agents, only the best and only the most pure at heart. Investments into it were very lucratively spent, and the science around it was always on its tiptoes, afraid of messing up at the slightest hitch.
But after the success of two agents simultaneously involved in the creation of the Center gene, the members then offered the chance secretly to their next best (but not personally involved) agent.
And as luck would have it, Rashmi was their first choice.
Surprised was understatement of the year.
Rashmi was stunned the first time they asked her in private.
She spilled her coffee on her pants and cussed in Hindi until she was sure she came back looking calm and professional.
Thing was though, she wasn't calm. She was still stunned.
The kind of science they were talking about (genes, elemental enhancements and what-not), those kind of things weren't supposed to exist for at least another 20 years...heck, maybe only in movies! So it was natural that she grew suspicious. Rashmi was always cunning first, calculating other people's motives before she made a decision. But after careful debate and reassurance that the gene would not come to harm her or her loved ones, she decided anything to help the people of the world better would be worth it.
Rashmi then sent Haroom one last letter saying she would be away for a long time and did not when she would get back to him, but that she would miss him every day. And the Hypunjam prince offered the same condolence, saying he was proud and supported her in whatever she did. Then Rashmi went into training for a full year until she was ready to accept the gene.
Once she was injected, went into stasis, the first-handpicked, consenting GUARDIAN came out never feeling so awake. Every part of her felt weird to the touch but in a good way. And when they checked her vitals and found her biology stable (just as they promised), everyone in the GUARDIAN program hugged her and wished her the best.
Twelve hours later, she headed out for her first assigned 24-hour solo mission...and performed it in less than four.
Everyone rejoiced, and Rashmi was still speechless, jumping around and zipping around the new CORE sector of the company with a content grin. The Center Gene made her strong and powerful, and she had nothing but love and praise for the scientists and the tenets that the new GUARDIANs would follow: to protect the world and each other.
She was so successful, such a role-model, and after the founder, TSARLUNAR, gave the green-light to bring in more talented agents, the program took off.
...
More access agents were called in, inviting the best agents of the company worldwide for the chance of a lifetime. And scientists replicated the same Center gene with careful excitement. They watched strong men and women come in (sometimes humble, sometimes boastful), train hard for 12 months, give their old lives up, then get injected over and over until they had well over 30 new GUARDIANs...then 70...then 130!
It was mindblowing.
And for every new GUARDIAN 'reborn', they were given holiday/fairytale-themed codenames best suited to their appearances and skill.
Since the Center gene was still newly made, all GUARDIANs only had one-two abilities.
Rashmi's was "The FAIRYQUEEN" because her center allowed her to slow gravity under her feet when she jumped. It made her look like she was hovering in mid air and stopped the impact from high jumps. She was the best chaser in the Hunter division because of it. She also knew that if Raja-Sun ever came back and tried to jump off that balcony again, Rashmi would be one step behind him. She wasn't afraid of heights anyway.
Not only that, but Rashmi was able to speak every language. She commanded an army of people at her disposal and many times would communicate between more than one networks of agents at a time. In her time, she was the program's best and strongest GUARDIAN, with a Rank A honor. Yet while it was truly amazing, it was also very time-consuming.
But only for a while.
The growth of Project GUARDIAN reached an astounding height in its first three years, and with so many superagents in the field, she found more time off to be with Haroom. The board had no ill feelings about it and neither did the Royal Hypunjam Court. Love was love, and both lovers had devoted enough of themselves to others that they should be blessed with happiness themselves.
So eventually, a twenty-nine-year-old Haroom found himself walking twenty-eight-year-old Rashmi to the end of the aisle, and the two were married. The days that followed were perfect.
And then Rashmi was pregnant.
When the news spread, the island celebrated all through the night until people passed out on themselves. They loved their new princess (knowing it was she who helped protect their prince after all the gossip in the newspaper) and were more than happy that their soon-to-be king would happily rule with a family after everything that almost ruined him.
Maybe the bad luck that befell the royal family would end...
Maybe the Hypjunam's curse would be lifted. It always did once they found their match...
...but tell that to Rashmi's Center gene.
Because after three months, her condition began to take a turn for the worst.
...
At first it was just headaches and a couple faints here and there.
But then Rashmi started moaning in the middle of the night, and having nightly sweats that shut on and off.
Haroom held her, comforting her until her tremors stopped. But then she started mentioning burns that were never there, something neither of them could see...
...something internal.
So without a second thought, Haroom requested an audience from the members and scientists of Project GUARDIAN while he and Rashmi stayed up with their trusted handmaids in waiting.
They came within hours.
The scientists hovered all around Rashmi doing their work and comforting her as they tried what they could. She was one of the first agents to have the Center gene...but the first to ever be pregnant while having it. Haroom tried to distract himself by trying to have rational discussions with the few Center gene theorists who'd come along for support. He demanded to know what was happening to his wife.
Then as they tried to explain, Rashmi cried in the bedroom.
He rushed in to help her but when he got there, she was inhaling and exhaling out of her mouth harshly and holding her stomach gently, trying to comfort the growing child inside.
The Prince didn't know what to think.
And he didn't know what to do when she started to physically change.
...
Skin started to discolour...beautiful, dark hair started to fall out...and a sting in her back where wings might've been made it hard for her to sit straight.
Rashmi pressed her fingertips to her lips more often before she kissed them and rubbed them to her stomach.
Her pregnancy was complicated by the Center Gene in her biology. She was in constant pain and the scientists hadn't develop a biotic in time to help ease or reverse it because everyone thought the gene was stable. But it didn't mean they wouldn't try.
They made accommodations for Rashmi quickly to be flown back to the company, and looked after by the scientists waiting for her. Then they promised a few tests and a quick job on a possible biotic to help stabilize her changing gene when she left. She and Haroom agreed that they didn't want their baby to grow and be born inside a cold facility.
But they had to be honest...they told her they didn't know if she or the baby would survive long enough.
And every day, Rashmi and Haroom lived in tired fear.
The court watched their beloved prince pace back and forth when he wasn't doing his regular work and when he wasn't with his wife. And the handmaidens always bit their lips when Rashmi told them (in perfect Thai, a language she'd never spoken before she got the gene) that she was A-Okay...but they noticed her fingers shaking and her breathing becoming shallow. They never mentioned that her skin was purpling behind her neck. Soon they were almost afraid to touch her, and Rashmi couldn't blame them. She didn't know when she'd die...but she didn't want the only life she and Haroom had created to suffer.
And it haunted them...at every waking hour...at every moment of rest.
They'd lie awake at night with Haroom cocooning around his wife as her light started to dim slightly. Women normally glowed during pregnancy, Rashmi certainly had in the first three months. But with the mutation accelerating, her fire was growing tired in a battle it was never meant to fight. And it made his heart ache.
He stroked her hair and Rashmi nuzzled her heart-shaped face into the silk pillow.
"I hope the baby's alright, Ha," she'd whisper and Haroom would shut his eyes and put his hand over her growing belly.
"I know, Mi...I know."
"I'm sorry..."
Haroom paused and leaned over her. When he looked, he saw tears slip down Rashmi's face.
"I let the curse ha-happen again. I lied to you...I promised I'd be here. A-And I won't...I can't...I-I don't have time."
And Haroom looked sideways to avoid letting his wet eyes glint in the moonlight.
He silently wept anyway.
...
Rashmi didn't lie down and take it though. She'd be damned if she couldn't hang on for nine months.
So every day, she did anything to keep her body healthy, active, and her spirits alive. She went for walks, laughed with the locals and the palace workers, helped with development projects around the country and kept up with the rest of the world through their old friend, Agent Bangkot. He kept her up to speed with everything, even his time as a board member on Project GUARDIAN. So far, every other agent seemed fine and healthy and she had to sigh in relief for that. Because she was Rashmi – she wouldn't be who she was without being caring.
And everyday, she drank pots of peppermint tea.
Rashmi hated peppermint all her life but since living on the island, it was like she couldn't get enough of it. Maybe it was the way the Lulus brewed it. Maybe it was a craving from the pregnancy. But whatever it was, Rashmi liked to have it whenever she could. And the locals did encourage that peppermint was an old remedy used to help ease a lot of pain.
And it did.
The princess-in-waiting never went six hours without a steaming cup in her hands and if she had to, she found herself chewing on mint leaves or just sitting on the balconies that faced the peppermint plot lands while the breeze blew the smell into her face.
And she always smiled. It smelled like Haroom.
Even if she was still in pain, she was always thankful that she was able to help save the tiny, little island in the Southeast from being turned into a drug pit. It was beautiful now that she could fully appreciate it, and while she knew she might not last long, at least she could give them and their royal family one child to carry on its legacy.
She just hoped her and Haroom's baby would love and be proud of Punjam Hy Loo too.
When the last month came, everyone walked around like they were on eggshells. The royal couple, the island, the scientists, board members. All of them.
They didn't know what to expect, what to think, but all they could do was hope. Hope for Rashmi's health, Haroom's dying love, and the well-being of a child no one had foreseen to cause such a turn of events.
In her last days, Rashmi laid next to Haroom and the two stayed up all night wondering about their futures. Haroom selflessly promised that no matter what happened, he would love and protect their child. And in her compassion, Rashmi never blamed the child for her ailing health, she never blamed anyone for anything. Then they shut their eyes and went to sleep because they knew tomorrow was a big day.
...
The next morning...
Haroom was on one knee at the top of the stairs leading to the throne room.
It was his Coronation day and all the people had jam-packed themselves into the castle for his crowning. Normally, the throne room was closed to the public until after the king's formal crowning, then he would make his grand appearance to the crowd waiting outside. But with his wife suffering and the obvious pain plaguing the island for months, the court couldn't be heartless. They let the doors open and let the islanders be with their future king, sitting quietly and waiting patiently in support. Even the simple newspress from The Hummingbird was there to document everything in silence.
The ceremony began.
The royal court said their oaths, reciting the Hypunjam royal bloodline's sacred duty over every bird and under every elephant they cherished. Haroom agreed wholeheartedly, ready to further look after his people as he always had. But he couldn't help it if his mind was a little preoccupied with the distant echoes down the hall on his left – the hall where he knew midwives, handmaidens, and any other available medical and science team were at Rashmi's every beck and call. Her delivery date was any day now so they had to be ready.
Then finally, the crown was produced. Everyone held their breaths, even the two royal brothers.
With Haroom's father already passed, no one was there to wear the crown until Haroom's time, even though he already ruled without it. But now that he was ready, it was taken out of hiding and ready to sit on his head until his child or by some emergency, his brother, Tanvir had to take possession. When Haroom looked at his younger brother, the man nodded his head proudly and smiled. He never wanted the crown anyway but he would be right by his older brother's side if he ever needed it.
So with a final oath, the crown keeper held the gold symbol of power over the Prince and lowered it onto his head.
But–
"...AHH! G–AHHH!..."
Haroom's eyes widened and his head pulled back.
Rashmi's scream bounced off the marble walls and threw itself into the grand throne room. Everyone's goosebumps appeared and hearts started to race.
But none more the prince's.
"...HA-H I...I...ARGHH! *sobbing*..."
"Pị! (Go!) Go, prince!" one villager yelled and another man agreed.
"Yes go, your highness! We can wait!"
"Go! Run!"
"GO! GO!"
And as their panic started to heighten, so did their future king's.
Haroom apologized helplessly but he didn't need to. The royal court shook their heads worriedly and ushered him out, holding the crown nervously.
The next thing Haroom knew, he was flying down the throne steps and into the hall faster than any hummingbird. His chest was threatening to explode from the inside out, and the farther he drifted away from his people and the closer his wife's screams became, he almost couldn't breathe.
His sandals pounded the floor. Every stomp though wasn't loud enough to drown out Rashmi's crying.
When he emerged in the doorway, the doctors, midwives, handmaidens, and scientists let him pass while they darted around her.
"Mi! Mi, I'm here! Take my hand!"
Rashmi looked up at him and grabbed it.
Her mouth hung open as sweat matted her hair. Her water had already broken and she was ready to deliver, but it was near impossible to get her to speak.
"H...I-I...W–"
She started puffing out deep breaths as a fire spread across her chest.
Something wasn't right, wasn't normal, she just knew it.
GUARDIAN scientists kept shooting half-completed biotics into her arm and castle midwives continued wafting peppermint-scented candles near her to calm her erratic heartbeat.
But it was already too late.
The gene had already mutated to an irreversible point that had redesigned most of her organs to fail. They didn't even know what the child would look like or if it would survive once it left her – it was hard to tell since every scan they tried since the fifth month could not read Rashmi properly.
But they knew they'd lose her.
Beep. Beep.
They'd lose her if she kept pushing herself.
Beep. Beep.
"Let us, miss!" one doctor tried to urge.
"Allow us to perform an emergency C-section!"
"Yes, princess!" a GUARDIAN scientist pressured. "W-We can try to save you both!"
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
They kept telling her to stop. To stop and let them help. Or least let them put her on anesthesia and wake her up when the child was out.
"Do not push–"
"Rest your h–"
But–
"NO!"
They stopped instantly.
Beep. Beep.
"N-No...this child is m...I can do it. I-I need to! Because I..."
No one said a word and looked to the (not crowned yet) King, in support.
Beep. Beep.
But after a ghostly look passed his face, he looked at them firmly.
"It is her decision..."
Beep. Beep.
"...and y-you must respect that."
So they backed off, not offering any extra medicines past peppermint or morphine as the woman fearfully squeezed her husband's hand.
Rashmi was determined.
She wanted to do it herself. She wanted to bring her baby in the world on her own, see him/her with her own eyes.
Because she knew, if they put her to sleep...she would probably never wake up.
Haroom stayed with her, holding her hand as she gasped and gave every bit of energy she had left for their child.
Beep. Beep.
All the while, she whispered 'I'm sorry' as he pushed her sweaty hair from her face and kissed her hair, not at all caring about the thin mutational sprout that had appeared at the crown of her head from the last two days.
Beep. Beep.
Haroom then pressed his lips to her fist and looked down as tears made everything hard for him to see.
But she could feel it in her bones. She was ready to shut down.
Beep. Beep.
Beep. Beep.
"I...I-I'm sorry, H-Ha..."
Beep. Beep.
"I know, Mi..."
Beep. Beep.
"...I-I know."
Beep. Beep...Beep...Beep.
Beep...Beep.
...Beep.
Forty minutes later, the flat line filled the room...
Rashmi was dead.
Her hand was limp in his and their daughter was in his arms, crying and crying for milk...and a mother who was no longer there.
The medical team stood back with grief, looking on in stunned silence that, while everyone knew it would happen, it was still too much to take in.
Haroom carefully placed his daughter's forehead next to Rashmi's face, letting the tiny girl feel the last bit of warmth that radiated from her mother. But when her tiny hand reached out blindly for the woman, she cried again and he had to pull her away.
"Co...C-Congratulations, your highness. Y-You have a b...beautiful baby girl."
But he didn't hear them.
Haroom then sat there and stared down at her.
Light golden skin like his, full head of dark hair like Rashmi's, and one golden yellow streak. She looked so healthy, alive, and unmutated.
But he stared for so long that it hurt, that Haroom then leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers.
And he cried with her.
Hours later, Haroom was left alone.
Alone in his silence when he still had to be crowned in the grand throne room while everyone stayed outside to grieve and to give him space.
When the crown was finally placed on his head, the new King shut his eyes.
His daughter's crying was heard in the royal crib a few feet away, the only other royal present other than his brother.
...
...
...
"But why...H-How?"
Mr. Sanderson stopped telling the story and lifted his head at her voice.
He gave Tooth a nervous look, but her face was a blank canvas. It had been ever since she stopped screaming and Pitch's fears wore off. But when she collapsed, facing him with wide, terrified eyes, her silence had been too much.
Her lips quivered as she spoke again.
"The gene it–How did I...H-How did...m-mom..."
Mom.
She said it...She said it.
His heart nearly stopped when...that word...left her mouth.
Mr. Sandy then looked down. Then he tried to explain.
...
Drink this, Rashmi...Drink it, every day.
"Drink this, Toothie...Drink it every day. It'll keep you healthy."
And Tooth never argued.
She liked peppermint.
She had one cup in the morning, and one at night, thinking it always made her stronger, helped her breathe better when she thought she had a stuffy nose. She also liked to brush her teeth with mint toothpaste and make sure the Tooth Fairy got her best teeth when she put them under her pillow. Because when she did, she always got back a gold coin from another country in the world. She even just liked hiding in Haroom's clothes because he always smelled of mint leaves.
And don't even started get on Tooth and spearmint gum. It was her anxiety killer.
So yes, she loved peppermint.
She loved it so much she bribed Haroom as a little girl for mints – so long as she promised to go to school in States and learn proper English like her mother. Even though she never understood why her Mom passed away at birth.
"Because she was special, Toothie...just like you." And Haroom would hug her and touch her short, gold strand of hair, thinking about all the nights he couldn't sleep when he thought she'd cough and cry until her lungs stopped...or the first time a pug had rolled on its back and licked her face, and she squealed and rubbed its ears, like a normal little baby.
So Tooth held onto that, even after he was long gone and she had to go to school and honour his wish.
She even took it a step further when all her handmaidens started showing up for her after she turned twelve.
"So drink this, girls...Drink it every day, and it'll keep you healthy!"
Every day, she and the girls would sit together and drink peppermint tea. It was the only way she could get them to open up. They were always so quiet at first, but like her, they all liked mint and it relaxed them to a point of calm and happiness. Then Tooth found it easier to chat and make jokes with them until they started to like her...until they started to love her, as much as she loved them.
Because for a little girl so lonely, she had a love that seemed to split itself in the hundreds, for the hundreds.
Then they all grew together, happy, healthy, and strong on that island...because their bodies were eventually naturally embedded with it.
...
"I-It was peppermint," Tooth finally whispered. Her heart was like a fire in her chest.
She looked up at her golden-haired nanny but beyond his tired, paling expression, he did nothing.
And she knew.
"S-So mom, she...she drank it all the time an...and then growing up on that island, s-surrounded by it every day. In the tea, i-in the fields, in my gum, I–"
Which meant that when Tooth chewed gum to calm her anxieties, when she shared it with Jack, gave him that biotic, it was doing more than soothing pains...it was healing, protecting them.
Sandy's chains made a rattle.
He started to explain beyond her basic understanding.
It was actually menthol. Menthol, the essential oil in the peppermint.
A small dose of menthol was always an ingredient in the products given to the agents helped to stabilize their DNA. Yet there were so many other natural ingredients and essential oils that it would've been hard to decipher for anyone not really seeing it.
"But you did," Tooth mumbled proudly. "You knew."
Sandy shook his head. He then lifted his open palm and tapped his thumb to his forehead. Next, he bent out his fingers and made them pedal like a bicycle.
The sign for 'father', and the sign for 'people'.
It was because of who she adored the most, that Tooth had been consuming mint long before he came.
"...A-And Tooth?"
He eyed her curiously. When he looked, she rubbed her eye with her free hand.
A deep frown was on her face as her mouth hung open in shock.
"Wh...What about 'Tooth'? D-Do you why I was na...be-because I've always wondered but U-Uncle Ty said h-he would...te-tell me one day..."
And to her surprise, Sandy nodded.
Then his fingers started to move, one last time.
...
Weeks after their wedding and still in surprise about the pregnancy, Haroom and Rashmi were happy and in love as the first day they'd been together.
One day, they were in the royal sanctuary, chatting about what to do now that a little one was on the way to share in their happiness. They tried guessing whether it'd be a girl or boy, and coming up with names that they liked. Then Haroom mentioned what they'd do if a second one came.
Rashmi immediately teased him saying he was already feeling frisky and when he grew flustered, she accidentally tripped him. Haroom fell face-first into the grass and chipped a piece of his front tooth off a small rock.
His wife immediately cried, apologizing that she forgot he was so clumsy but couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her lips.
Haroom apologized too as he went to pick up the piece of his tooth off the garden floor. Rashmi didn't want to hear it.
"It's okay," she giggled as she knelt with him in the grass. "It was just a little surprise that made the day more perfect."
Just like their relationship...just like their marriage...
Just like their child.
And almost simultaneously, they both looked down at the tooth in Haroom's fingers, imagining a baby's fingernail to be about the exact same size.
And they knew.
They just did.
...
Feelings that were beyond comprehensible floated in and around Tooth, drifting through her gas mask stronger than any sand grain or toxic chemical.
Her heart pounded.
"Th...So that's why Baba always told me that story," she whispered. She looked down at the floor with wide eyes, and shaking fingers.
"Dad sh-should've said something," she let out a tiny grasp. "H-He always used to joke that that was where I came from but...H-He wasn't lying. He–"
Then without thinking on it, Tooth looked up, sensing something.
And what she saw was something she thought she'd never see...
...Mr. Sanderson's face was wet.
But while he was crying, he made no hiccup, sob, or choke – not that he ever could. But it was enough for Tooth to understand.
He was apologizing for seeing her treated so wrongly all her life, for her family, for this mess.
And in his silence, which still spoke volumes, she looked down and her vision turned blurry.
But it wasn't out of fear...it was out of love.
A love she'd never felt stronger in such a lonely moment of her life.
When he lifted his hands shakily, she already knew what he was signing before he could finish.
"I choose love, Mr. Sandy," Tooth mumbled then dropped her head against the bars, squeezing Jack's flower in her hand. "I chose it a long time ago."
She shut her eyes just as two tears slipped out...one for each of her parents.
"I-I wish they were here..."
And as it all started to settle, she realised she was no longer mad for the all the lies.
Because how could she?
She was a Hypunjam.
...It was their curse.
Chapter's soundtrack: "Evacuating London" (The Chronicles of Narnia) – Harry Gregson-Williams
In the books, Haroom is actually a slave bought by a maharaja but I think he really deserved that 'heart of a prince' title they gave him. Plus, I always saw Haroom as a prince so this is my dedication to him. Toothie's parents ftw. :') And Raja-Sun is my play on his role in the actual book as the 'maharajah' (Raja), and Sun was taken from the actual story of the Chinese Monkey King named 'Sun-Wukong'...the more you know!