Tommy was in the palace courtyard, looking up at the stars. The evening breeze blew through his hair.

It was Wilbur and Schlatt's wedding, so the ballroom was very loud and bright. He just needed to get out for a bit, that was all.

It had been a year since he had lost his wings. They never found Dream, but they have the Rivendell guard looking for him (after getting rid of their old captain and replacing him with Lizzie's fiance), so hopefully, they can find him soon.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tubbo sit down on his left side.

"They're about to do the toasts," Tubbo said. "Don't you want to embarrass your brother?"

Tommy shrugged. "Eh, I'd rather sit out here and enjoy the peace and quiet."

"You've changed," Tubbo said jokingly.

Tommy shrugged. "Being sixteen will do that to ya."

Tubbo rolled his eyes as Ranboo stepped out. "And yet you still act like you're six."

"I'm shocked you even remember being six." Tommy retorted. By this time, Ranboo is sitting on his right.

Tubbo shrugged. "Honestly, I really don't."

"Uh, hey," Ranboo said awkwardly. "Um, I kinda have an important thing to tell you guys..."

Tubbo gasped. "Are you finally coming out!?"

Ranboo blinked. "What—no! Why would I even come out, I'm not even—whatever." He said, flustered. "Um, the other day I was digging through Sapnap's things and I found this letter directed to me that was written by my mother..."

"Why did Sapnap have a letter for you from your mother?" Tommy asked.

"I don't know, maybe he didn't want Dream to know he had it?" Ranboo said. "But it's...here."

Ranboo shoved the letter in Tommy's hand, and the blond skimmed it. "Oh fuck..."

"What?" Tubbo asked. "What does it say?"

"Um..." Tommy started. "Basically, Ranboo's mother, Aren, was the Queen of a small kingdom that's far into the North. Several months away. And because Ranboo is her son, he's a prince and is the heir to the throne."

Tubbo hummed. "Makes sense. He does have a very princely face."

"Thank you?" Ranboo said questioningly.

Tommy rolled his eyes as he looked at Ranboo. "When are you leaving?"

Ranboo shrugged. "I don't know, maybe around my birthday? I'll need enough food and money to last a year."

Tommy nodded. "That's only three months away."

Ranboo nodded solemnly. "I know."

The trio sat there quietly, enjoying each other's company.

"It'll be super weird when I leave, not having you guys with me," Ranboo said after a while.

"Yeah," Tubbo said. "But you need to go. You need to learn more about your past."

Tommy nodded. "Tubbo's right. As weird as it'll be, this'll be good for you. And besides, we'll write often, won't we, Tubbo?"

Tubbo nodded. "Yeah, we will! Er, he will. I can't read. Or write."

Ranboo rolled his eyes as he found a fond smile growing on his lips. "Y'all are ridiculous."

Tommy grinned. "And you're American."

"The fuck is an American?" Tubbo asked.

Ranboo rolled his eyes fondly as he stood up. "C'mon, let's go back inside. You two shouldn't miss their wedding."

Tubbo sighed with no ill intent. "Fine, if we have to." He said with a smile. He stood up and looked at Tommy. "You comin'?"

Tommy smiled slightly at them before looking up at the stars one last time.

"Yeah."

~<•>~

530 words

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's a wrap!

For this book, anyway.

I am planning on making a sequel that's Ranboo-centric, and I probably won't upload it until either it's done or I'm done transferring the chapters to ao3, whichever comes first.

Anyway, I'm planning for the sequel to be not quite as dark, but not quite as lighthearted either

May or may not include; A dictator, treason, gay moments (like very gay), implied romance (they don't explicitly get together, but there are vibes. Think of literally every gay ship in Disney movies), the palace being staffed by characters that you totally haven't seen before in various streams and totally don't include characters from Dialtown or Monster Prom nope

It's not that bad, I swear

The only reason why this chapter took so long is bc I've been OBSESSED with this book 2 idea and yeah...