Work Text:
It had been over a month since the Separatist’s had been taken down.
Over a month since his father had finally been freed.
And over a month since he’d officially been granted a full royal pardon from the kingdom that he’d laid siege upon over a year ago and had then helped take over a mere eleven months later.
Those among his bigger previous charges of committing treason and then kidnapping the queen, resting there alongside the guilt of turning his forever loyal best friend into a monster who had, despite that still snuck him apples through the bars of his cell.
But while the use of the memory wand upon the king and queen hadn’t exactly been his idea, the prospect of finding a way in regaining his own freedom and finding a way to finally go back to researching how he could free his father, without actually hurting anyone had been too hard to resist… leading to his rather unfortunate alliance with the Saporian’s leader.
A man he almost truly considered to be his friend until that day when many, many truths about him came to light.
The most important part being that the man was a conniving, lying, manipulative genocidal and homicidal maniac.
Something you may never know about a person until the moment you find them hanging you over the side of an airship, airborne and hundreds of feet above solid ground all while they rant about traitors paying with their lives.
Traitors like you.
After all he had done though, of course, it didn’t matter what his mental state had been, blinded by grief and anger, or that he’d only been fourteen when he’d first been apprehended and labeled as the entirely unstable, evil and notorious alchemist, nor that he was fifteen now.
It also didn’t matter that he had never intended to allow himself to go that far, to fall that far into the darkness and into this void filled with lies when he continually tried to tell himself the kingdom deserved what it wrought until the battle of Old Corona where he had inevitably been defeated and silenced once more.
The public and forever scrutinizing eye of those in the Capital believed that his pardon had been far too lenient and far too forgiving of the princess. That it had been far more than he deserved and that the princess Rapunzel should be either praised for being ever so merciful or admonished for her foolishness in choosing to trust him.
The princess didn’t appreciate either sentiment though, nor did his father or even, much to his surprise, several of the still returning villagers of Old Corona who had been forced to leave their homes and livelihoods due to the black rock crisis.
But, of course, with a mind as sharp as his, Varian knew better.
And he knew that the people of the Capital were correct. He’d been given a second chance, one that was by far, much more than he deserved.
But that wasn’t something he would let them know he was aware of. All he knew was that he’d have to keep his head up while he took in their well-deserved dirty looks, insults and whispers whenever he passed through the streets.
He would never let them catch him in a weak and vulnerable position ever again as he worked to make amends to both the kingdom and the used-to-be or now seemingly, once again despite his skeptical emotions, friends , he had hurt.
Doing so would only lead to more pain… would only open up doors to being taken advantage of again, but either way, that didn’t matter regardless.
The princess had after all, told him he’d never know if they wouldn’t forgive him or not if he didn’t give them a chance.
Hence, Varian had another, more important responsibility now, which was to atone for his mistakes and to give them all that chance despite the burden he’d felt that he’d become.
Even if it meant always needing to have someone walk by his side whenever he entered or traveled to the Capital. Even if he now always had to make sure he looked over his shoulder at every turn and also had to make sure that he was back home or within the boundaries of Old Corona before the merchants route became busy by late noon.
The princess had given him a chance to prove himself once more, a chance that he could not let pass by, even if more than half the kingdom hated him.
Of course, because of that minor detail, this was a task that proved entirely difficult in a world where his feelings shouldn’t matter, just as they hadn’t mattered before.
Little did he know that those who truly cared for him, would be willing to do anything to let him know that they did.
Little did he know that those who were willing to open their hearts to him, wanted to remind him that even after all he had done, he matters.