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Fought for me

Chapter 9: I'll Get To You Somehow

(You thought this was a story about Raya and Namaari's relationship? No, it's a story about Raya and Charanya being besties. This is honestly a filler chapter more than anything. Okay but I promise we get a good Namaari scene and she'll be more prevalent in the next chapter. She'll show up more in the next chapter. Anyways, hope you enjoy!)

Being Charanya's best friend is taking ten years off Raya's lifespan. Sure, rebuilding Heart and working with the other lands to achieve peace is stressful, but making sure Charanya stays out of trouble?

Practically impossible.

The first major issue Raya encountered with Charanya was her interactions with those in charge of agriculture in Heart a couple weeks ago. A few noble families from Heart own the farms and are in charge of harvesting food each season. Though there isn't really any explicit rule book for how each farm operates, the other noble families all unofficially chose Niran as their leader.

Quite the burly alpha man, Niran always seemed to know exactly what to do in order to get the best crops possible. Everyone else followed his orders to produce the best results.

That is, until the Druun hit.

Like most other Heart civilians, Niran was one of the first people to get turned to stone. He's no longer familiar with the way the soil works or the best area for water quality.

Six years was plenty of time to drastically change how the agriculture of Heart needed to run. The only person that's been harvesting anything from Heart in the past six years is Charanya. That means that now everyone now looks to her for guidance instead of Niran.

And boy is he pissed about it.

Raya suspects that it's mainly because Niran feels usurped from his original position of power. She's positive he got a kick out of everyone coming to him for help. Seeing people shift their focus from him to Charanya was definitely a blow to his ego.

The Heart princess is also rather aware of the fact that Niran holds traditional views. Also known as alphas are leaders, betas are meant to be subservient, and omegas need to stay at home to make babies. Just bigoted viewpoints that suppress everyone. Awesome.

While these stereotypes aren't even half as enforced as they were in the past, a small chunk continued to hold onto these views. Many people in this group are part of the nobility all throughout Kumandra. Niran is one of these people. He sees Charanya, an omega, leading the people in changing how their harvesting is done as a huge slap in the face.

In the first couple weeks during the rebuilding, Charanya and Niran were constantly at war with how they were supposed to grow plants and where to do it. Niran was trying to go with the way everything was done before the Druun while Charanya knew the current way of handling things.

Pretty much every time the two interact, they end up in a screaming match. Niran screams because he isn't being obeyed and Charanya screams because she isn't being heard.

Raya doesn't like Niran in the slightest.

"Okay seriously, how many fucking times do we have to go over this? Do I need to dumb it down for you? Soil by the orchids bad, soil by the river good!" Charanya drawled like she was speaking to a toddler.

Honestly, she was.

"You have no idea what the hell you're talking about! And quit talking to me like I'm a child!" Niran snapped back

"I'm responding accordingly. If I talk to you like you're a kid, it's because you act like one. You're too old and ugly to be a kid so how about start acting like an adult, yeah?" Charanya mocked.

Now Niran's just going on full blown tirade about how Charanya should respect him and his position as an alpha. The people around them were at a loss for what to do.

Raya felt her eye twitch involuntarily. She's not dealing with this anymore. Clearly, Aulia shared her mother's sentiment because she's frowning in Niran and Charanya's direction. Raya decided to pull out the big guns.

She's tattling to her father.

The sight of Raya immediately caused Benja to groan.

"Do not tell me-" Benja began.

"Yes," Raya bluntly stated.

Benja let out a string of curses before following Raya's footsteps. People had been complaining to Benja over the Charanya Niran disputes and it's driving him nuts. No matter how many private talks with Niran he's had, the man refuses to change. Time for public humiliation.

The Chief of Heart may be using a crutch to walk around, but he is a man that commands respect no matter where he goes. When he approached the squabbling duo, they both immediately shut up.

Raya tried to hide her satisfaction as Benja laid in on Niran. There haven't been any public incidents with Niran after that, but Raya sees the look of utter rage in his eyes when he sees Charanya. She made a note to keep an eye on him.

******************************

The second issue with Charanya, while very minor compared to the others, is the fact that her and Namaari are constantly at odds. Granted, Raya and Tien are very clearly not buddy buddy, but they make it less obvious.

Raya hadn't expected the four of them to end up constantly spending time together, but allegedly that's what teenagers do so she's rolling with it.

It honestly surprises Raya how often Tien and Namaari are in Heart. Ever since the Druun were vanquished, the two Fang alphas have only left Heart twice. And even then, it only lasted for a few days. Many people from all lands have been very active in helping rebuild Heart as a way to show support but man, the people Fang are seriously sticking around.

Both Namaari and Tien thought it'd be a good idea to hang around the serlots for the afternoon. Both Raya and Charanya are incredibly weary of the overgrown felines, especially because of the fact that Aulia's with them. Charanya insisted on holding the baby due to the fact that they haven't had much bonding time lately. (They literally spent all of yesterday attached at the hip.)

So, there Raya stood, constantly eyeing the animals that spent a couple years chasing her. Awesome. Well, the trip wasn't a total waste because Aulia seemed fascinated by the large beasts. She kept reaching out to the cats and staring at them with great interest.

"You know we can let her touch the serlots, right?" Namaari asked.

"Excuse me?" both Heart omegas asked at the same time.

"That was kind of creepy. But yeah, Aulia seems to really like the serlots so I just figured I should mention it'd be totally safe for her to touch and interact with the serlots," Namaari explained.

Before Raya could say 'you lost your damn mind', Charanya spoke for her.

"Uh, think with whatever's left of your brain please. Do you see that jaw? That creature could swallow my goddaughter whole. One gulp and the heir to the Heart throne is gone," Charanya scoffed.

"Okay, that's dramatic-," Namaari began.

"No no, she's got a point. I refuse to subject myself to childbirth again, that's the only heir Heart's getting," Raya bluntly stated while pointing at Aulia.

"The serlots are incredibly docile, they know not to attack unless we tell them to," Tien attempted to reassure them.

"What part of 'swallowed with one gulp' are you people not getting?! And the teeth??" Charanya exclaimed.

"This is why you're her godmother," Raya told her.

"I know right? We're so in sync!" the shorter girl smiled.

"Do you honestly think I'd do something to hurt Aulia?" Namaari asked.

Well now Raya felt a little bad with how sincere she is. She was about to respond but yet again, Charanya beat her to the punch.

"Who knows what goes on in your brain knot head?" Charanya huffed.

Raya snorted and quickly closed her mother after seeing Namaari give her a pointed glare.

"You're one to talk, no?" Namaari huffed.

"What-" Charanya mumbled before wincing in pain as Aulia tugged on her hair.

"I will allow thirty seconds of serlot interaction and if I get even one indication of hostile behavior, I'm putting the beast down," Raya conceded.

Raya figured having her daughter interact with other living beings would be good for development. Charanya did not seem pleased with the verdict, but relented. She kissed Aulia on her forehead and handed her to Namaari.

"I swear if anything happens to her, I'm going to burn you alive," the Heart woman scowled.

"Charanya, that's treason," Tien bluntly stated.

"But is it treason if I don't get caught?" Charanya asked innocently.

"Yes! Yes it is!" Namaari yelled.

Raya's not even surprised anymore. Those two can't have a conversation, or participate in the same conversation, without them bickering. But, at the end of the day, Charanya and Namaari never actually go too far with their bickering, so Raya supposes it's harmless. For now at least.

******************************

Now, the third incident is just downright hilarious and happened the day after her little spat with Namaari.

"Raya, stop this. Stop this right fucking now," Charanya hissed as she stared at a sight that would likely haunt her for years.

"I truly don't know if I can," Raya said as she tried containing her laughter.

Right in front of their very eyes was Chief Virana of Fang very obviously hitting on Kim, Chranaya's beloved grandmother. Aulia was being held by Kim and that baby is having the time of her life with those two.

"Grandma is like, elderly! Isn't she too old for the chief?" Charanya whispered in pure frustration.

"I mean, chief's like forty-five. Grandma's been stone for six years so she hasn't aged. She's still fifty. I'm sorry to tell you this, but a five year age gap is perfectly acceptable," Raya grinned.

"No. This will not happen. I will fake a heart attack if this goes on for even a moment longer," Charanya hissed.

"Oh come on, Ranya! Open your mind! If Grandma and the Chief get married, you and Aulia would be cousins! We could be a true family!" Raya grinned as Charanya's face was filled with terror.

"That would make Namaari my aunt! In what universe is that acceptable?!" Charanya hissed.

"Apparently this one," Raya said, getting more and more amused by the minute.

The Heart princess had to admit, it was odd to see Kim get so flustered while being hit on. Growing up, Raya wanted to be Kim. Despite her omega status, she had even the mightiest alphas shaking in their boots.

She was a rather tall woman with sharp features that made her look as stern as she acted. Not a whole lot of alphas approached her after the death of her husband. It wasn't like it's because of the fact that she wasn't pretty, because she is. Instead, she was never approached because Kim was incredibly intimidating and frightened the living hell out of most people.

Raya supposes that if there was one person in all of Kumandra that wouldn't get scared off, it'd be the alpha chief of Fang. It honestly made perfect sense.

"No. I just- no. Raya, start a diversion. Make it stop, I am begging you," Charanya frowned.

"Okay, is it really that bad? Grandma's fine-" the Heart princess began but was quickly cut off.

"Uh, she is an omega that is a chef while Virana is an alpha and a fucking chief! If, in some horrible reality, they end up courting, you know who's gonna suffer most if things go bad?" Charanya snapped.

Raya sighed and tried to think through her words carefully. The shorter omega is very protective of her family. It's been prominent even before the Druun's appearance. With how her parent's relationship ended due to her father taking everything and leaving her mother nothing, it makes sense how weary Charanya is of alphas. Especially those that could have romantic intentions with her family.

"Virana's not your father. The only person that is your father is, well, your father," Raya gently reminded her.

"Doesn't mean there aren't tons of people like him that will make an omega fall in love only to screw them over," Charanya scowled.

"True, but Kim's an adult. If Virana's being serious and Grandma's interested, you know you have no right to stop her," Raya told her.

"Oh go to hell with your completely reasonable thoughts. I want to be insane and bitter," Charanya pouted.

"I want to be insane and bitter too. As long as we do it from a distance and don't interfere," Raya smiled.

"Fine. It's too sunny out here anyways," Charanya sighed.

"I'll grab Aulia," Raya said as she squeezed Charanya's shoulder.

The taller omega also sighed, but it was out of relief. Now that Raya successfully talked Charanya out of doing something drastic, maybe they could just take some time to relax.

******************************

The fourth issue that takes the cake is what Raya is currently dealing with.

Raya had a late meeting with chiefs from the other lands that ran well past sundown. Though long, it ended up being much more productive than she had hoped. Namaari was originally going to join her for dinner but ended up having more paperwork than she anticipated. Raya told her she'd meet up with her after a quick walk, she really needed fresh air.

Namaari was willing to watch Aulia while the Heart princess went outside, which was honestly very helpful. She totally lost the baby sling she'd been using so it'd be a tad difficult to walk around fully supporting her baby.

Raya was able to peacefully roam the village outside the palace for a few minutes before she caught sight of Charanya. When Raya got closer, she found Charanya talking to another person. Upon even closer inspection the person seemed to be a beta woman from Tail who was very upset.

"-look, I have no clue who your husband was screwing. That was long after my time. Divorce the bastard or stay with him, I don't care, but don't drag me into your shitty relationship," Charanya hissed.

Raya immediately walked closer because she couldn't hear what the beta woman was telling her friend. Then she saw the beta pull something out of her pocket and it was a fucking knife! If she was going to save Charanya, she needed to be fast.

The Heart princess gripped the knife and quietly rushed over to the duo. Charanya was pinned against a wall just staring at the knife in front of her. If she saw Raya, she didn't make any indications.

Raya got close enough to press her own knife right against the Tail woman's neck. Whatever words she was telling Charanya died in throat upon feeling the blade press against her skin.

"Drop the knife or I swear on every dragon alive I plunge this in your neck," Raya seethed.

At once, the Tail woman dropped said knife.

"Run," Raya hissed.

The tail woman did not need to be told twice. She turned around and sprinted away from the scene. Sighs of relief were exhaled by both omegas.

"Thanks for the assist," Charanya gulped.

"Who the hell was that? What's her deal with you?" Raya frowned.

"Long story short, her husband ended up going to the brothel in Talon. Guess he was hooking up with Samorn. She wanted me to tell her where Samorn is, likely to beat her ass. I honestly have zero clue where she is, but she didn't believe me," Charanya sighed.

"That's psychotic!"

"Only a lot. It's kind of hilarious how I wasn't even a sex worker and that damn brothel keeps on coming to bite me in the ass."

"What do you mean keeps on coming?"

Charanya didn't answer. Raya gasped when she connected the dots. This has happened before.

"Exactly how many other times have you been confronted because of cheating spouses?" the Heart princess asked.

"It was only like, one other time!"

"Charanya."

"Two times?"

"Cha. Ray. Na."

"Okay fine, six times."

"SIX FUCKING TIMES-"

"Okay pause! The other times were just them bitching at me and then they would leave! I swear on my life no one has ever pulled a knife on me before or got physical in any way! If it had gone that far I definitely would have told you!"

Raya sighed in relief at hearing that at least Charanya's life wasn't in constant danger. But even so, what a fucking binturi!

"Why would you not tell me anyway? I'm your best friend! You're the godmother of my baby!" Raya asked sadly.

"You have enough on your plate. I really thought if I just told them to buzz off they'd all get the message that I'm not a snitch. I realize I went about it the wrong way, and I'm sorry, but I really just didn't want to make your life any harder than it has to be," Charanaya sighed.

Raya simply wrapped Charanya up in a hug and rested her chin on top of the shorter woman's head. Her friend immediately returned the embrace.

"Please, I already know you're a total pain. May as well tell me about it," Raya joked.

"Stop ruining our moment," Charanya giggled.

They stayed like that for a moment before deciding to turn in for the night.

"Do Ma and Grandma know about this?" Raya asked as they made their way back to Heart's palace.

"Ma does, but only because she actually caught us talking. We decided to keep it from grandma for now. You know how she is," Charanya shrugged.

Yeah. Raya knows very well how Kim is. The woman is ruthless.

"Completely understandable," Raya nodded.

The two bid each other after a couple more minutes of walking to the palace. Raya mentally groaned upon remembering she had to do more paperwork and help Namaari with hers. Why does she have to do things? Life is lame.

The Heart omega had told Namaari she could get a head start in Raya's room since she had Aulia. That baby loved her room for whatever reason.

Raya opened the door to see Aulia giggling as Namaari played peek a boo with her. Raya smirked. There's no way Namaari got any work done whatsoever.

"How've you two been?" Raya asked in pure amusement.

"We've been good. She's very entertaining," Namaari smiled.

"Yeah. And uh, what about that head start on the paperwork you were talking about?" Raya smugly asked.

Namaari looked at the stack of papers beside her, completely untouched.

"I had priorities, Raya," Namaari said, gesturing to Aulia.

There was something about Namaari calling her daughter a priority that really made Raya want to make out with her. Her stupid inner omega's prancing around at the idea. She really hates instinct.

"Well, priorities must now shift if we ever want to get this stuff done. Say bye bye to Princess Undercut, Starlight," Raya told her baby.

Namaari and Aulia had the same pout as they were separated, which was honestly kind of funny and concerning. It's not even like Aulia's going that far. She's just going from Namaari's arms to her crib a couple feet away from Raya's bed.

"Did you just refer to me as Princess Undercut to your baby?" Namaari frowned.

"It's called respect, Namaari. She had to use your official title," Raya grinned.

"As if, you have no respect for me," Namaari scoffed.

"I think I'd start getting some if you didn't get distracted by a baby when you had actual princess responsibilities," Raya smirked.

"Uh, is it my fault she's so cute?" namaari asked.

Kinda.

"You have zero self control," the Heart woman laughed.

"Just look at your stupid papers already," Namaari huffed.

Raya figured she poked enough fun at the alpha so work they did. Time flew by much faster than she had anticipated. Paperwork was such a damn chore, but doing it with Namaadri made it less so. By the time they were finished, it was beyond the middle of the night.

"Toi, I'm exhausted. I don't think I can stand up," Namaari whispered, mindful of the fact that Aulia is fast asleep.

"You can stay if you want. Bed's big enough for two," Raya blurted without thinking.

Ah yes. Invite the alpha you had a child with and that you're crushing on into your bed. That makes so much sense Raya. Look at you go with your critical thinking skills.

"If you're just being polite tell me now because I am genuinely going to take you up on that offer," Namaari mumbled while tiredly rubbing her eyes.

Is Raya truly this stupid?

"I feel like if you tried walking to your room, you'd pass out in the hallway. We can both sleep in the bed without going anywhere near each other. That thing can fit like seven people minimum," the Heart woman joked.

Yes. Raya is this stupid.

"In that case, I'm going to bed roomie," Namaari yawned.

The Fang princess tiredly shuffled to the bed and face planted on it. After a couple moments of awkward shuffling, Namaari managed to curl up under the covers.

Raya stood up and peered down at Aulia one last time to make sure she was still asleep. Seeing her out like a light, Raya crawled into bed.

"If you're a blanket hog, I'm kicking you out," Raya yawned.

"Don't even start," Namaari huffed.

"Goodnight, Namaari."

"Night, dep la."

******************************

When Aulia woke up Raya with her loud shrieks of baby rage, it was still dark outside. It felt like Raya didn't sleep a wink. Damn it.

The Heart woman started opening her eyes only to see Namaari already tending to Aulia. Namaari picked the baby up and began to softly ask what's wrong.

"She probably needs a diaper change. It's around this time," Raya yawned.

"Alright. I can do it if you want me to, I've done it before. I know some people have thing about it though so I can also slide over the table and a new diaper to you," Namaari offered.

Wow. She's willing to change the baby of her own free will. Each day that goes by, Raya feels more and more evil over keeping Aulia's parentage a secret.

But that's not a conversation for right now!

Right now, Raya would be taking what she could get.

"By all means, by my guest. Diapers are in the cabinet next to the crib," Raya mumbled.

Namaari didn't respond but Raya could hear the cabinet door open and shut. Aulia seemed much less fussy now that she was being attended to, which is always a plus.

"I hope she bites you when you change her," Raya bluntly stated.

"I am changing your baby's diaper of my own volition and this is how you talk to me? That's fucked up, Raya," Namaari huffed.

The Heart princess merely laughed. She had closed her eyes again once Namaari stated she'd deal with the diaper change so she couldn't exactly see the two of them. That's why she's unable to picture Aulia's little teeth digging into Namaari's skin as she bit her.

The Fang woman cursed at being bit. Raya knew exactly what was happening and laughed even more.

"I bet she's only doing it to follow your bad influence," Namaari huffed.

"Bring her to me. I want to encourage this behavior," Raya smiled and stretched her arms.

"You want me to give you your baby so that you two can conspire against me?"

"Yeah."

".........you're the worst."

With that, Namaari handed Aulia over to Raya. The Heart princess smiled at her happy, clean baby. She gave her daughter a small kiss on the cheek.

"So you remember how you bit Undercut when she changed you? I want you to do that all the time whenever you see her," Raya loudly whispered.

Namaari yelled out an indignant 'hey', but that was unimportant.

Aulia giggled and leaned down to nuzzle her face in Raya's neck. Ugh, she's so damn cute when she's asleep. She is one cuddly baby when she's just woken up.

"How is it even possible to be that cute?" Namaari quietly asked.

"I have no idea. She doesn't even try," Raya smiled.

The Fang woman sat next to the two Heart omegas and gently tapped Aulia's hand.

"Just putting it out there, my name is Namaari. Not Undercut. Namaari. Do you understand this Aulia?" Namaari asked.

"Your name is Undercut if I say your name is undercut," Raya scoffed.

"You're so lucky the baby's in between us or I'd put you in a headlock right now."

"As if, binturi."

"I'm no binturi, binturi."

"If someone had to draw a picture of the word binturi, they'd have to draw your stupid face."

"My face is not stupid-"

Before the two adults in the room could finish their petty argument, Aulia let out a big yawn. Then the baby gave them a little glare that they just couldn't take seriously due to how cute she is.

"Is this her way of telling us to shut the hell up?" Namaari asked.

"Looks like it," Raya mused.

"Alright, back to bed you go," Namaari sighed.

The Fang woman picked up Aulia, who's already drifting off to sleep, and placed her on her crib.

"Need anything while I'm up?" Namaari whispered.

"I'm good. Thanks though," Raya replied.

Namaari hummed in acknowledgement then got back into the bed.

"Night Undercut."

"You're so annoying."

******************************

Raya woke up to the sound of the door opening and Charanya's alarmingly loud voice for the morning.

"Wake up Sunshine, Ba wants us-" Charanya started.

At once, Charanya slammed the door shut. Raya got confused as to why she'd leave so abruptly, but then she realized the state she was in.

After fully opening her eyes, the Heart princess could see that she's practically lying on top of Namaari who just so happened to be wide awake. Raya knew exactly what this looked like.

She quickly scrambled off the other woman and began mentally cursing herself for letting the other woman sleep over. It's like she's a glutton for punishment.

"Hold on! We didn't have sex!" Raya yelled despite the fact that Charanya was likely long gone at this point.

"Not this time anyway," Namaari mumbled tiredly.

Raya's jaw dropped. Huh, so they could joke about it now. They had to be a good sign right?

.......right?

In order to address the comment, Raya grabbed the pillow behind her and smacked Namaari with it. The Fang alpha merely laughed.

"You're so stupid," Raya snorted.

"False," was all Namaari could muster out.

"I'd better go see what she wants. Mind keeping an eye on my tiny terror?" Raya asked.

"Don't talk about her that way, I think she's a delight. And yes, I can. I'll probably be down in the courtyard by the time you and your Ba are finished," Namaari said.

"Wonderful. Thanks Namaari, I'll see you then," Raya yawned.

She then looked down and noticed Namaari looked red. Like, really red.

"You're not sick are you? You're redder than a rose," Raya inquired.

"I'm fine!" Namaari said, almost too quickly.

Raya's too tired to argue. She'd take Namaari's word for it. The Heart woman grabbed some fresh clothes and quickly changed in the bathroom. Raya then rushed out the door to Charanya's room where she thankfully was located. She did not feel like chasing that girl down.

When Raya walked into the room, Charanya was glaring at her with crossed arms.

"Why do you look like I just dropped Aulia?" Raya asked.

"The hell was Namaari doing in your bed," Charanya glared.

This is so not a conversation Raya wants to have right now. Unfortunately, Charanya's not one to let things go.

"Look, we stayed up late doing paperwork so I offered to share the bed. Nothing happened," Raya insisted.

"You need to be careful," Charanya glared.

"I just told you, we didn't have sex," the taller woman groaned.

"That's not what I meant," Charanya spat.

"Why are you flipping out? It didn't mean anything," Raya sighed.

"Raya, I realize you probably didn't notice, so I'm just going to say. When I walked in that room, you were purring," her best friend said.

Raya's pretty sure she can actually feel the color drain from her face at the comment. If an omega purrs near an alpha she's not related to it's usually because she wants to court them. Raya may actually kill herself. That did explain Namaari's redness though.

"...............do you think she noticed?" the Heart princess asked quietly.

Charanya looked like she wanted to slap the hell out of Raya.

"Yes. Given the fact that Namaari was fully conscious, directly beneath you, and staring straight at you, I have this feeling that she maybe noticed the purring," Charanya fumed.

It's only just now occurring to her that being Raya's best friend is likely taking ten years off Charanya's life too.

Toi, they're perfect for each other.

"I really didn't mean to," Raya meekly admitted.

Charanya groaned and buried her face in her hands.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just worried about you. I don't want you to get hurt again. Namaari's done enough damage," the shorter woman said.

"Maybe she has. Doesn't really change anything," Raya sighed.

"Just please, be careful," Charanya begged.

"I will. You too," Raya insisted.

"I will," the other girl agreed.

What a garbage fire this is.

"Hey, what do we need to do with Ba?" Raya asked.

"I'm not sure. All I know is that it concerns both of us and we need to head to his office," Charanya said, clearly grateful for the topic change.

The two made idle chit chat as they strolled to the Heart chief's office. They theorized what kind of problem would be so bad that both of them were needed.

When they entered the office, her father looked stressed. Shoulders raised, aggravated look on his face, crossed arms, the whole stressed to death package.

"Alright, glad you're both here. I really don't want to prolong this discussion so I'll just be direct. Have either of you given courting any consideration?" Benja asked.

Raya and Charanya immediately shot each other confused looks. The hell's he going with this?

"No, not really. It's not our main concern right now," Raya stated.

"I second that notion," Charanya agreed.

Her father seemed visibly relieved at the confession.

"Well, it would appear that courtship is other people's main concern. You've both gotten offers. They're on the table. Charanya, your grandmother passed them on to me," Benja explained.

Yet again, the two omegas shot each other a look. This is probably the last thing they thought this conversation would be about.

There sat two stacks of letters on the table with gifts to accompany them. Raya's stack was higher than Charanya's, but that was likely due to the whole royalty thing. Even so, it greatly surprised her. It's public knowledge Raya had a baby very young. She really can't imagine people her age would be willing to deal with that, even if she is a princess.

The Heart woman is also quite shocked over the fact that Kim passed everything on over to Benja in regards to Charanya. Courtships in Heart tended to be overseen by the head of house, usually the oldest alpha but it's not guaranteed. Given Charanya's specific circumstance, head of house would be Kim. On occasion, some families will pawn off control over courtship proposal to a family friend that's more knowledgeable. Again, this family friend is usually an alpha.

The confusing part is that Kim is an utter control freak. From what Raya remembers of Ai's stories, Kim would constantly monitor Ai's courtship requests and would thoroughly investigate those who offered. To pawn off Charanya's courtship requests is incredibly out of character for Grandma.

Raya can take a guess why.

"How'd Grandma take it?" Charanya asked, having zero desire to beat around the bush.

"She couldn't even look at them. Your mother tried to be excited, but she's terrified. I am too. It's hard enough for us parents to see our kids grow up. We never thought we'd blink and have six years fly by," her father sighed.

Yup. That would be the guess. It made sense even if it was devastating to hear. Raya and Charanya are very aware of how hard their sudden adulthood hit their parents. They can't exactly avoid it, especially with the baby on Raya's hip, but the two girls try not to bring much attention to it.

"I, uh, don't feel the need to court right now. Everything's too hectic," was all Charanya said.

"Me neither. Mainly because if someone I court tries to parent my child, I'd give them a nose bleed," Raya huffed.

"You know, you girls don't have to tell us what we want to hear. This is your life, you're both of age, we would support you if you two decided to pursue a relationship with someone," her father reminded them.

"Hard pass," Raya said.

"That's gonna be a no from me," Charanya agreed.

"Oh thank toi. Being supportive is really stressful, I don't know how people do it," Benja said as he slumped in his chair in pure relief.

"That all you needed from us Ba?" Raya laughed. She's honestly just happy to see him in a better mood.

"Yup, that's all for now. I'll go tell Ai and Kim the good news. I'll see you two later," Benja said.

Her father affectionately ruffled the tops of their head. He practically skipped away. It was silent in the room for a moment.

"We can never court anyone ever, can we?" Raya asked out loud.

"No, not ever," Charanya laughed.

"It's a good thing the people we want are unattainable," Raya snorted.

"I like you looking on the bright side! What a nice change of pace," the other woman teased.

"Okay, I know we're not actually courting anyone, but even you have to be a little bit curious over who sent us these letters," Raya grinned.

"Toi, I really am. I have to know," Charanya said as she began shuffling through her pile.

Raya did the same. As expected, she did not know who most of these people were.

"Oh, look at these earrings. I would almost court someone for these earrings alone," Charanya joked.

"They clearly know your taste," Raya noted.

The shorter Heart woman then went to find the envelope that matched the earrings. When Charanya got her hands on it, her jaw practically hit the floor.

"What, what is it?" Raya asked.

"Bestie, you're not going to believe this shit," Charanya said as she showed Raya the name of the person who gave her the earrings.

Raya could not, in fact, believe that shit. The person is Noya, aka one the binturi that enjoyed harassing Charanya every damn day she breathed. It was a bunch of petty shit and Raya got so pissed off by it that she ended up punching Noya in the face to get her to back off.

"How drugged out is she?" Raya scoffed.

"No idea. The audacity," Charanya spat.

"Tell me if she pulls anything. I've no problems breaking her nose again," Raya scowled, thankfully causing Charanya to laugh.

As Raya shuffled through her own letters, her jaw hit the floor when she saw yet another binturi name she did not want to see.

"What's up? Who's in there?" the shorter woman questioned.

"This is so insane," Raya sighed as she turned the envelope over to show her friend the name.

Charanya gasped and snatched the envelope that had the name Mali written on it. Raya may have been the one that got picked on by Mali, but Charanya's the one that absolutely despises her. Raya understands as it's the same way she felt about Noya but reversed.

Mali was a total jerk that treated Raya similarly to the way Noya treated Charanya. Pulling on her, purposefully tripping her, and various other dumb stuff. However, due to the fact that Mali started her antics up after Raya punched Noya, the Heart princess felt cornered.

Noya and Mali are both from noble families so the only reason why Raya got off scot free after the Noya altercation was because of her princess status. She knew if she tried pulling that again with Mali there would be legitimate consequences.

Thank God for Charanya. She found out that Mali had a horrible fear of bugs. That gave Charanya the bright idea to take some dead bugs from an old building and put them in Mali's sandwich. One bite in and she was a goner.

Mali had quickly learned Charanya was the culprit and never told on her. Raya's pretty sure it's because Mali's an alpha and getting duped like that by an omega would kill any street cred she had.

"I am not above putting bugs in everything she consumes," Charanya grumbled.

"Good. Hopefully neither of us have to go through with our threats. I mean, it's possible they're better people now, right?" Raya pondered.

"I'd certainly hope so. I saw both of them quite a bit when doing my deliveries. Let me tell you, they did not have the lavish life they had before the Druun. Hopefully it humbled them," Charanya sighed.

Raya could see that being a possibility. Namaari was capable of change, there's no reason why those two couldn't be. But to have the nerve to try and court them without even addressing what happened when they were kids?

Fuck. That.

"Either way, I'm not touching Mali with a ten foot pole. Matter of fact, I'm not touching any of these people with a ten foot pole," Raya huffed.

"Agreed. I say we burn them and forget this ever happened," Charanya said.

"I'm here for it," Raya sighed.

And so they did. Without even bothering to look at the letters in the envelopes, the two omegas tossed their courting letters in the fire. It was kind of a pretty sight.

The courting gifts were a bit more awkward to deal with. None of the objects given to them could easily be erased off the face of the Earth like paper can. They decided to toss everything in a bag and threw it with the rest of the garbage in the palace.

Raya guided Charanya to the courtyard Namaari claimed she would go to. Ugh, the Heart princess prayed this morning's purring incident wouldn't be brought up.

Upon arrival, Namaari inquired about the meet up with her father. At least it wasn't about the purring.

"What did your father want from you two?" Namaari simply asked.

"It took forever, must have been important," Tien agreed.

Raya and Charanya gave each other a look. Neither of them had any desire to mention courting offers in front of the alphas they had rather complicated feelings for.

"It was a family matter."

They did not elaborate. Namaari and Tien were wise enough not to press the issue.

"Oh, actually, speaking of family matters we should probably get Aulia's birth certificate started," Charanya reminded her.

"Shit, I completely forgot," Raya groaned.

It's true. Aulia, future chief of Heart, does not have a birth certificate. What was Raya supposed to do? Give birth and write down herself as the mother? In the middle of Fang? Absolutely not.

"How do you forget to make your own child's birth certificate?" Tien asked.

"Well when you give birth on the run, a few things slip your mind," the Heart princess shot back.

"We both thought it was best not to give any indication Raya was alive at the time and you know, a legal document stating Raya is a mother kinda ruins that plan," Charanya shrugged.

"Oh my god, that means I was right on the boat. Aulia is a nonexistent baby. Legally, she's not real," Namaari laughed.

"How is this still up for debate!? My baby is real, binturi!" Raya snapped.

"Not in the eyes of the law she isn't!"

"I will smack you so hard your undercut falls off-"

#raya and the last dragon #raya x namaari #namaari #ratld namaari #raya disney #ratld raya #ratld #namaari x raya #raya and namaari #rayaari #omegaverse #omega raya #alpha namaari

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