Chapter Text
"Xavier says that this is as close to the memory potion as we can get," Donnie explained as he filled two tea cups with the blue, slightly glowing substance. "There are some ingredients that simply don't grow in Corona, so we had to find substitutes. But all the important stuff is there."
"Great," Rapunzel gave a relieved sigh. "It's not been easy seeing them like this."
The memory spell had basically left the two monarchs as shells of their former selves: they were polite and behaved like an upper-class lady and gentlemen, but they didn't know who anyone was, where anything was, took everything at face value... They didn't even know their own names.
Once Donatello had announced that the potion was ready, Rapunzel, the Turtles, Eugene, Master Splinter, Lance, Nigel, and Xavier had gone up the King and Queen's chambers.
"Oh!" The Queen asked as Donnie put one of the tea cups in front of her. "Is this tea?"
"Uh, no..." the turtle admitted as he put the other cup in front of the King. "It's... better! Really good for the brain!"
"Well, why not?" The King picked up his tea cup. "A toast: to the lovely woman I've been spending so much time with these last few weeks. You made it seem like a matter of minutes."
The Queen blushed as she raised her own cup. "A toast: to the most polite and kind gentleman I can ever remember meeting."
"That won't be hard," Mikey whispered to Lance. Leo frowned at his brother while Lance suppressed a laugh.
The royals both drank their potions. Once they'd finished their drinks, they both looked into the tea cups with looks of confusion.
"Rather... peculiar taste," Queen Arianna admitted. "Rapunzel, what kind of tea did Donatello say this was?"
"Rapunzel!" King Frederic sat up so fast that his tea cup was knocked over. "When did you get here? I thought you were still on your journey!"
Laughing, the princess ran into her father's arms. Then into her mother's.
Now that the King and Queen were themselves again, a quick recap of the last thirteen months followed. The royals were shocked at how much they'd missed, not to mention furious that their kingdom had been held hostage and relieved that Rapunzel, her friends, and the Hamato Clan had managed to save everyone.
Still, it quickly became clear that their memories weren't completely restored. They couldn't remember fine details like dates or names, and entire events were missing all together. Donatello admitted that, according to Xavier, this was likely to happen.
"Since we used substitutions," he told the group, "their memories didn't come back in full. It's sort of like trying to remember a movie you only saw once: you remember what it was about and what you liked about it, but things like character names and what specifically happened is hard to recall.
"But the good news," the turtle quickly added when he saw the princess' crestfallen face, "is that their memories ARE still there. We just need to help them start remembering specifically what happened, and they should have everything back in no time."
It was decided that, due to King Frederic and Queen Arianna not being quite themselves yet, Rapunzel would remain the acting queen for a little while longer.
- - - -
While Rapunzel was tempted to throw a big party to celebrate the potion's success, Nigel and Leonardo reminded her that the Saporian invasion had still left a lot of damage. The city and outlying villages of Corona were all fixed, as Rapunzel had prioritized restoring the citizens' homes and welfare, the castle still had a bit of damage. Most notable was the gigantic hole in the throne room wall.
For some reason Splinter didn't understand, the princess had somehow turned into a scavenger hunt including a majority of the citizens. Nigel, with her gone, brought in several citizens with construction experience to rebuild the throne room. Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo, since the kingdom was down three guards (Stan and Pete were on the scavenger hunt and the Captain had been on an away mission since Saporia attacked), volunteered to take some guard patrols.
This left Splinter with a bit of alone time. He found himself wandering the halls of the castle. While his sons and the princess had given him a tour of the castle, it was a bit confusing. Fortunately, though, he eventually found the library.
Part of his studies in the original Hamato Clan included learning to speak and study English. He'd groaned about it as a teenager, but as an adult (one forced to flee to America, no less) he was more than grateful for it. He'd asked Donatello why a kingdom supposedly in the middle of Germany seemed to speak and write predominantly in English, but after his son gave a long explanation including numerous words he didn't understand, he'd simply decided the reason wasn't one he needed to know.
The librarian gave him a friendly nod as he walked in; the rat found himself as accepted by the people of Corona as his sons, even though he went out in public less often. It was an odd feeling: he hadn't felt so welcome since leaving Japan.
He found himself scouring the shelves for anything interesting. After a minute or two of searching, he found an interesting book on martial artists in the Seven Kingdoms.
Splinter had just sat down to read when his sensitive ears picked up a noise. The sound of someone sighing in deep sadness.
Deciding his book could wait, he stood from his table and followed the sound.
The King of Corona stood in the library window, overlooking one of the castle's gardens.
"A lovely view," the ninja master announced his presence by commenting.
"Ah, forgive me," the King stepped away from the window. "Master Splinter, is it? I'm sorry we haven't been formally introduced yet."
Splinter bowed to King Frederic, who quickly shook his head.
"No, none of that, please. We prefer to only have people bow on formal occasions."
"If you wish. If I may ask, why do you look so sad?"
"...It seems my loss of memory also gave me a loss of self-control," the king muttered. "May I confide in you, Master Splinter?"
"Of course, King Frederic."
"The recent return of my memories has forced me to look at some of my past choices with fresh eyes. And... I trust your sons told you what I did to Rapunzel on her nineteenth birthday?"
The rat gave a nod, carefully showing no emotion.
"At the time, I thought I was doing what I had to to protect her. But now... Now I realize how paranoid and overprotective I was. Rapunzel had shown so many times how capable she was of defending herself and others... She proved it again with how well she handled the Saporians. What kind of father am I if I can't see my daughter for who she really is?"
"You are hardly the first parent to make such a mistake."
The King looked at Splinter. It was the mutant's turn to sigh.
"Several months ago, an old enemy of mine reappeared in my family's city. He ambushed my sons; the only reason they escaped was through sheer luck."
"Your sons are only fifteen," the king gaped. "This monster would kill children?"
"It's easier to list those he wouldn't kill. Learning that he was back, and that he'd nearly killed my children... I felt terror like I'd never had before. I decided that I had to train my sons harder while also keeping them away from the world for as long as I could. It was nearly a disaster: my sons were so tired and paranoid that they could barely fight a threat that nearly cost us our home. I have apologized and things right with my sons, but I know the guilt you describe."
"When your sons first came to Corona, they spoke very highly of you. I can see why."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Now that you can remember them again, I wish to thank you for showing my sons such kindness and generosity."
"After all they've done and continue to do for the kingdom, it's the least I can do."
He looked at the clock on the wall.
"Would you like to join Arianna and myself for tea?"
"I'd be delighted, King Frederic."
"I'd be honored if you'd simply call me Frederic."
To the shock of the Corona elite, Splinter became the newest friend and confidant of the King and Queen, even being on a first name basis with them. The snobs of the upper class tried to hide their distaste that a giant rat of all things had managed to gain a higher social status than them. But, once they actually met him, they had to admit that he was actually fairly polite. The fact that he had better manners than Eugene and Lance combined also helped.
- - - -
"Wait, so the treasure was cursed the whole time?" Mikey asked Rapunzel.
"Yep," she said from where she was sketching the whole event in her journal.
"And you beat up an army of skeletons without us?" Raphael looked upset.
"Sorry," she replied. "If I'd known there'd be monster slaying, I promise I would have invited you."
"Don't worry, Raph," Leo commented from where he was polishing his swords. "Knowing this kingdom, there'll be someone for you to punch soon enough."
"You're just saying that," the red-clad turtle grumbled.