So you guys are writers, probably, and you know how much research you need to do for fanfics and the like. Well I did my research (finally) and I have written quite a bit of TQO! Please comment and vote! This chapter is a bit longer than usual, but there's an important question at the end of the chapter. Now stop reading this and read the actual story.

I didn't care for the details, but I basically ended up in the orphanage. The paramedics must have thought I was lost or something.

The news was buzzing with the Ninja's 'victory', the Devourer's defeat, roads flooded with green snake vomit, the ominous disappearance of Pythor and Lord Garmadon (along with the Golden Weapons, whoopee) and the reappearance of Sensei Wu. Gayle Gossip was only talking about Mr. Chen's Noodle House's stable recovery from demolition. Nobody had gotten seriously injured, so there was nothing to report.

There were even some photos circulating of a pink advertisement with Zane in the subway. I was so lost in my grief that I didn't care, for once.

Of course, the press wouldn't consider Mama and Papa a casualty. They were just common folk only remembered by a poor little girl. Why would anyone else care? I had no cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, nobody. No relatives at all. No friends either. Nobody to take me in. Nobody to care.

But it's fine. I don't— I don't need your pity. I've managed this long without people caring about me, so I'll be fine, right?

My arm had only been broken when the building collapsed. The hospital was going to just shove me into an adoptive family of strangers (and have them pay for my medical bills).

I remained silent and refused to speak. All this time alone, without Mama and Papa, and knowing that nobody cared, changed my entire outlook on life.

I was always a listener. I was constantly listening to the things people were saying. I quickly picked up the story of what happened on the Day of the Great Devourer. Hoping to seek the praise of his father, Lloyd Garmadon- who is now the famed Green Ninja!- unleashed the Devourer, as if that would make his father proud?

I'm still confused. That's not how it works... and he still became the Green Ninja, as if his past no longer mattered.

*cough* I could say the same for myself.

Well, anyways, the entire Ninja team tried and failed to protect the city. They went to their last resort for help: Lord Garmadon. The villain alone was able to save all of Ninjago, without elemental powers and strength in numbers. I grew inspired by that, believing that someday, I could become something great just like him. That my past wouldn't change my future. Garmadon was the son of basically God, but he paved his own path. I wanted to do something like that.

While Garmadon did an admirable job, the Ninja received all the credit and basked in the glory of a battle they didn't fight and a victory they didn't win. They did absolutely nothing and just stood there, watching the city fall while they had the villain do their dirty work.

My admiration for the ninja quickly became cracked, darkened, and fell away. I despised them. I hated them. It was their fault my parents died. It was all their fault.

I hated them all.

Especially Lloyd Garmadon.

💮

If it was possible for me to become more stubborn, I did. After being placed in an orphanage, I maintained my silence. I ignored the foster families who came in to meet me. Nothing seemed to please me. I never smiled or laughed. I kept myself hidden and protected behind a mask- a mask of hatred. Nobody was able to talk to me, and I was strong enough to ground myself when they tried to pick me up or hug me.

The orphanage workers wanted to get rid of me soon, so they posted my story on the newspaper, the TV, the radio, anywhere they could.

Now, I'd like to establish real quick that the emperor and empress may be the Royal House, but they don't actually have any power over public affairs and whatnot. I don't know why there even is a royal family, since they don't do anything. That's why I still am confused as to why they needed an heir to the throne so badly.

So the royals, hearing my story, came to try to "help" me. I immediately distrusted and disliked them and didn't make a sound. The childcare workers dramaticized my past, leading to the emperor making a big decision. I was immediately against the idea, but it's not like anyone asked me.

I wish Garmadon adopted me instead.

Of course, we instantly got a lot of press. Gayle Gossip interviewed the royals, who happily said I would become a princess Ninjago would be proud of. The emperor nodded at me, the empress smiled, and I frowned at the cameraman. Gayle stuck her stupid foam microphone in my face. "How does it feel to be the heir to the throne, Princess Harumi?"

I glared at her and crossed my arms. The reporter looked surprised for a moment, and it took her a second before she recovered from my stubborn reaction. "Oh... she's quite the quiet one, isn't she?"

The Quiet One... That was the fifth- sixth?- time someone called me that. Back then, I didn't really care about making a name for myself, but as I grew up I unintentionally grew my rep for being The Quiet One. My childhood, the royal family's secretive life, they all were very quiet.

Gayle Gossip was used to people answering her right away. She turned to the empress, who then said, to my disdain, "She will regain her voice soon, and before long it will be one inspiring Ninjago day after day. Once she realizes how lucky she is to become our daughter, the princess will be the best we have ever seen."

I scowled. Cheesy as heck. I was more upset, however, that she didn't even notice I was unhappy. If the empress cared, she would ask. But why would she? I wasn't asked to become a princess. They assumed I would agree and made the choice for me. Why would that change now?

I planned to overthrow them. I mean, anyone would if you were in my shoes.

💮

Right away, I was fitted for robes and dresses and all that royal nonsense. I was given a large bedroom, which was the same size as my entire apartment in Ninjago City.

Before moving to the city, I lived in a small village, and the shack we lived in then was half the size of my bedroom now. Even so, I didn't care that my new room was big. Every night, I longed for my old room with the crack in the wall and the flickering lamp that didn't always work. I longed for my old life, but as much as I hoped, I knew it would never return.

Trying to coax me into speaking, the royals gave me toys, sang me songs, and did everything they could think of (except for leaving the palace). It took a long time, around two months, before I finally spoke.

When I did, the emperors made a big deal about it. They rewarded me with all kinds of things a child would wish for, but material goods weren't enough to change my mind. I knew they saw me as a successor and not much more.

As time went by, more clothing accessories filled my closet... and floor. As Kokoro, I was incredibly messy. This trait was carried into my teenage years as I left Kokoro behind and grew into Harumi. As much as I didn't want to become a princess, I did. I had no choice.

I ended up masking my face, much like the empress', for every day I was required to wear a mask of white makeup with red face paint. Against my will, they bleached my dirty-blond hair, giving it a white color, just like the empress. I was given green dresses (which reminded me of Lloyd, making me hate it more) that were tight at the waist and long, flowing capes with high collars... just like the empress.

You might not have been able to tell, but they are incredibly itchy and uncomfortable. Nothing I ever did in my life required more concentration than trying to not scratch your back when giving a speech.

Mark my words, I will never wear a dress again.

I was forbidden from leaving the palace, not that I had much time to anyways-- my parents piled dozens of lessons into my schedule. How to sit like a princess, how to eat and drink like a princess, how to speak like a princess, how to deal with civilians. I had to learn every city on Ninjago's map and memorize each name and location. I never got enough sleep, I was up working so late. My "parents" didn't see my pain and how much I struggled with upkeeping my duties.

Elaborate, healthy, enormous dishes were served each day per meal, every plate ten times more than what I was used to. If I ate too little or ate too much, the empress would shake her head and the emperor would instantly correct me and point out what I did wrong. With their words and reactions, I felt smaller with every failure. I felt like everything that went wrong was my fault, that everything that happened to me was because of my idiocy and carelessness.

They would react that way to everything I did that wasn't perfect- a point off a quiz, a strand of hair that fell in my eyes, a smudge of red makeup, a wrinkled cape. This went on for years, and I didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

💮

Hello, friends! My question for y'all: do you want the next chapter to be a flashback from Rumi's childhood, or just continue with the story? or something else? Let me know in the comments! Thanks and luv you guys <3〕