Weight of the Crown { A Leonardo fanfic}

A Crack in The Glass

Grayson's heart pounds as she sits on the floor of the library, a couple of ageing delicacies spread out before her. This was the way she would deal with the gruesome murder of the man she considered to be her second father figure. 

Malik had been there for her through thick and thin. He had been the one to adopt Drace and raise him as his own son. He had told both Grayson and Drace stories of his younger military days how he had fought in the Red War. 

He had been the only one not to betray her that she knew of. Malik didn't care if her father was an outsider. A hated race. Malik treated her like a living person. He didn't discriminate and he certainly didn't hate anyone. He was a guy that everyone liked and respected. 

Who had thought to do such a horrid thing just to get to her? Grayson slams closed the book in front of her and shoves it away. She sniffs and hugs her knees, letting out the waterworks. She would never have let herself be seen so low to the ground like this. She couldn't let anyone know that she was so hurt by this and saw her at her lowest. 

Hurt. Damaged. Weak. Helpless. Hopeless. All these words were ones that were hurled at her through the course of her life. Unconsciously, Grayson's nails extend into claws and dig into the flesh on her biceps. 

"Gray?" The smooth voice causes the girl's heart to jump into her throat. She lifts her head to see Leonardo. His ocean blue eyes twinkle in worry. "Go away." The girl growls. If she was being honest, she wanted nothing more than to have him hold her tight, telling her everything it was going to be alright. 

"I'm not going anywhere," Leonardo says softly, lowering himself down beside her. "I know you are in pain...I'm here for you," Leo says, reaching out his hand to touch her shoulder. Grayson flinches as his fingers touch her skin. The startled turtle retracts his hand, a hurt look in his eyes. 

"Don't act like you care." The young queen growls, her voice gruff and strained from crying. "Grayson." Leo breathes. "I do care. More than anyone from the looks of it. I even lo-" He looks to his hands, his heart pounding. Was he really about to say that? He'd known this girl what? A month? And he was willing to risk it all for her? Why? 

Love is a cruel enemy indeed. Grayson shudders out a sigh, brushing a couple of stray strands of hair behind her ear. Leo noticed her hair on the right side of her head was braided down to her neck. He liked it. It made Grayson look....badass in a way. 

"I thought life as Alpha would be different." She says, breaking the silence. "I thought that being the person of highest power mean that I would have freedom. Freedom is all I really wanted. Turns out fate has a twisted sense of humour." 

The Lycadian girl chuckles humourlessly. She turns her head to look at Leo. "Being in power brings out the worst in people. Being different causes others around you to show their true colours. And they are right. I'm a freak." 

Leo doesn't know if it was the tense atmosphere or if it was his own conflicted feelings, but a momment later, he leans in and presses his lips to the girl's. Grayson kisses back, pouring her whole emotions and unspoken words into it.

"You aren't a freak," Leonardo whispers between kisses, holding a hand on the young queen's cheek. As Grayson's hand slides up the turtle's chest, her mind's eye flashes back to the graphic death of her father. The words of Axelia one night as Grayson had awoken from sudden fright. "Your mother has been reported dead, young one. Mauled to death by Znichars. A terrible fate." She remembers Malik. Poor innocent Malik, speared to the side of the castle wall, his blood written on the stone as if it had been mere ink. 

Grayson abruptly pulls away, pushing Leo away gently. "Gray?" The blue-masked turtle asks softly. The girl lowers her head, biting her lips. She did like how he said her name. How he called her by a nickname. Only her father had called her by that nickname. 'Gray.' 

"Sorry, Leo." She breathes. "Everyone who gets close to me gets hurt. My dad. My mom, now Malik." She lifts her head a little to look him in the eyes. "Drace was right to distance himself from me." A sad smile creeps it was into her features. 

She lifts her hand to rest it on his cheek. "I don't want you to get hurt. I like you Leo, a lot. But I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you." Standing, Grayson runs out of the library, leaving Leo sitting there in utter confusion and major heartache.

Grayson's head is clouded by rage and emotion as she sits in the window ledge of her room. Her brown eyes hold nothing but void as she takes a swig of the strong drink she found in the royal chef's secret cabinet. Her lips press together in a thin line as she swallows the burning, bitter liquid. 

As her heart thumps against her chest, her mind swirls into a meaningless spiral. She just rejected the only boy she ever felt real feelings for. Grayson's grip on the glass bottle tightens. She hates the feeling that the thoughts of Leo entail. She takes another drink. 

Her mother's face wedges into her mind. Her long white hair and soft, young features. It then platters with red blood. Was it her fault? Grayson guzzles down more of the strong alcohol. She remembers her mother's last words to her. "I'm only going on a hunt. I'll be back by morning."  She didn't even have time to say goodbye. With a groan, Grayson tips up the bottle and gulps down the remaining contents. 

Her father's crooked grin appears in front of her, beside her bed. "Hey, baby girl." He greets, his brown eyes twinkling. The girl blinks and grits her teeth, but the vision doesn't go away. "Go away." She snarls, looking out the window once more. 

"Aw, is that a way to greet your pa?" The hallucination pouts playfully. "I thought you'd be ecstatic to see me. Don't you miss me?" Grayson's hand tightens around the bottle. "Yeah, sure I miss you. I miss you every day. But you're not here, are you?" Her voice drips angry sarcasm. She glances to her father. He is still wearing his grey t-shirt and tan cargo pants. 

But the thing that sets Grayson off the most is the gorey mass of red pooling in his chest. Her father walks closer to her. "Baby girl, you know I only wanted the best for yo-" 

"Is that why you left?" She shouts, tears in her eyes. She leaps down from the ledge. "You left me and now you are dead! You left mom and me to fend for our selves. Now, mom is dead too and I'm all alone!"  Her father's hallucination looks hurt. "I was trying to protect you. You know that. I love you, Gray..."

"Shut up!" Grayson screams, hurling the now empty bottle at the hallucination, causing it to shatter on the wall behind the illusion, which disintegrates into thin air. She falls to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. 

"I love you too, daddy.....I just can't face your face........because I've failed you..."

Wow....things are getting pretty bad here..... I almost teared up writing this...what about you?

~Keziah