Finding Fate

Taylor's (And Lloyd's) Guide On How To Get Over A 'Not So' Crush

Harumi choked out a sob and abruptly stood from the table, leaving her plate behind as she stormed from the room.

I really hope I wasn't like that when I was sixteen.

My grandmother spoke, but I wasn't paying enough attention to realise,

"Pardon?"

"I said that it goes for you too." I didn't have the energy to argue so I nodded. "Are you okay? Are you sick? You've never been this unresponsive."

"I'm fine, I just had a restless night." I was technically speaking the truth. I placed my plates on a tray and got up to leave. Just because we were royalty doesn't mean we had to be lazy. "May I be excused?"

My grandfather sighed,

"Go, you are excused."

Leaving the dining room, I met Luna outside. I beckoned her to follow me and we headed to the kitchen.

"Are you okay, Tay?"

"Oh, Luna... I don't know what to do! It's like everything I've told Harumi has been thrown out the window!"

"Do you reckon she thinks you're over him?"

"I don't know! You're the only friend in the palace I can trust right now."

We entered the kitchen and I placed the tray next to the sink. A tingle grew in my arm and I couldn't resist scratching it through the fabric of my sleeve.

"You love him, don't you?"

I sighed. I seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "I don't think I know him well enough to say I do." The truth is... I don't know what love feels like. "He likes Harumi and she likes him too. If they're happy, then I'm happy too... even if it hurts like hell."

I couldn't bring myself to make eye contact with Luna.

"How are you going to get over him?"

"I don't think I ever will."

Earlier That Day

"Moonlit walks on the canal," Cole started, barely missing Lloyd with his hammer, "sharing food. Sounds a lot like a date."

Lloyd brought it down with his sword, "It was not a date."

"A date: a social or romantic engagement. Often involving a meal or an intimate setting."

"Haha!" Jay laughed. "You can't argue with a Nindroid."

"Look, if you like this girl, you're gonna have to step up your game." Kai prepped and spun, his tornado of fire passing Kai.

"What do you mean 'game?'" Lloyd asked, pushing Cole away from him.

"It means one's ability to charm. You need to convince her why you are the most logical mate." Zane shot Kai's sword with a crossbow.

"If you want to impress her, you gotta act tough. Like, flex your muscles and stuff. Break things." Cole smashed a piece of training equipment with Spinjitzu. "Phew." Lloyd blinked.

"No way. You gotta make her laugh. Just ask Nya," Jay argued. "She couldn't resist my sense of humour." Then Nya tripped him over with a sigh,

"It's an acquired taste."

"Don't listen to them. You gotta act cool. Like you don't even care." Kai got up from the floor and returned to his spar with Zane.

"But I do."

"A-ha! So you admit it."

Nya paused her spar with Jay and crossed her arms, "What about a certain kiss?" Lloyd froze in response, letting Cole trip him over with his sledgehammer,

"Haha, got ya!"

Jay frowned, glancing at his girlfriend. "What kiss?"

"Nothing," Lloyd said hastily before Nya could explain and stood up. "It was nothing."

"Nothing, huh? She told me about it."

"And it was nothing." He threw his arms up, his brow furrowing. The others glanced back and forth between Nya and Lloyd, both agitated, as they stopped their sparring sessions, keeping their mouths shut in case they accidentally set either off.

"So you're just going to pretend that it didn't happen and you're all of a sudden interested in Harumi?"

"It was over a year ago," he muttered. Kai stepped forward, placing a hand on Nya's shoulder,

"We don't quite follow."

"Good because that's the end of the discussion."

"You're still not doing anything about it! Do you still have feelings for her?" Nya's eyes narrowed and the others looked over at Lloyd, bristling and clenching his fists.

"Of course I still like Taylor!" There was a collective gasp and he ran his hand through his hair. "I messed up, okay? Whatever we had will never work out. She's a princess now, she's not one of us anymore."

"She is to me! How is Taylor being a princess any different to Harumi?"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Lloyd turned around, guilt sweeping over his features. Nya dropped her harsh tone,

"Are you sure she's over you?"

"I said, I don't want to talk about this."

"B-" Cole placed a hand on Nya's shoulder and said,

"Drop it Nya, he's not just our friend anymore."

After the conversation with the others, Lloyd made his way back inside the palace. Rubbing his arm where he had fallen on the ground, he put his katana back into its sheath, catching the last bit of the conversation of the Royal Family.

"You are royalty, he is not."

Harumi's voice dropped and so did the Emperor. A moment later, Harumi fled the dining room, gasping when she spotted Lloyd and ran off.

Lloyd glanced down at his gloves and sighed.

Footsteps approached and Lloyd looked up, catching a slight glimpse of Taylor making her way down the corridor.

"If you know what's good for you," Lloyd jumped and turned to Hutchins, "stay away from the princesses."

Startled, he went down the opposite direction Hutchins had come from only to come across Taylor's voice,

"He likes Harumi and she likes him too. If they're happy, then I'm happy too."