Kaz Brekker imagines

The Difference

Kaz Brekker didn't have a heart. That was known to every person in Ketterdam but one. Y/N Brekker knew that her brother was still in him somewhere. She saw Retvield almost every day in the little things he did for her. Whether it was walking her to her room every night, or making sure she eats breakfast. She noticed all the ways he still took care of her which only made her tease him for constantly saying the barrel is the kind of place where it's kill or be killed. She did agree with that, but it was funny to see the same man who can cut your tongue out, and serve you tea with sugar.

Other than the fact that they were siblings, they had drastically different personalities. But only one distinct moment from their pasts really set them apart. Y/N was never on the boat. She didn't see all those dead bodies or use her eldest brother's body as a raft. She was to be left in the alleyway, and she watched as these strange men took her brothers and threw them onto the boat like they meant nothing.

"Stop! No! You don't understand!" Y/N chased after the older men as fast as her little legs could carry her. Her high-pitched voice echoed through the streets as she yelled at them to give her brothers back. "You can't do this!" But the men paid no mind to her and they kept moving to the docs with a barrel of bodies in front of them. Shivers ran down the little girl's arms and legs as the cold breeze seeped through the thin cloth of her well-worn nightgown. Her small feet ached and begged to stop running but she wouldn't let them, not when her big brothers were being taken away. "Please! I need them! You can't do this!" She didn't quite understand what they were doing, but she knew that wherever they were taking Kaz and Jordie, she wouldn't ever see them again. Her legs finally gave out from under her when they reached the docs and she watched in terror as they threw the only family she had left onto a large boat. A horrified scream ripped its way through her throat without her consent. And she didn't stop screaming or crying. Nothing could have gotten her to stop as she watched the boat sail away.

That's the difference between Kaz and Y/N.

Once he got back to Ketterdam he searched frantically for his sister and finally found her curled up deep inside the same alleyway the three of them slept in. Her filthy, torn blanket wrapped around her tiny figure in a weak attempt to keep warm. Her hair, in its usual braid. The sight broke the nine-year-old's heart into a million pieces, but also brought a sense of comfort. He still had a family. He walked forward with caution as fear settled into his stomach. She looked too still. He knelt down next to her and saw the subtle rise and fall of her chest. He sighed in relief and sat down next to her with his back leaning against the wall. Finally able to catch some rest he fell asleep next to his little sister.

~

Y/N sighed as she stretched her legs and rested her feet on the corner of Kaz's desk. "Do you ever miss home?" Kaz looked up from the papers piling on his desk, "What do you mean?" She ran her hand through her hair, pulled it all to one side, and started braiding it. "I mean do you ever miss ma and da? Jordie? Our farm? The animals? The fields? Any of it really." He froze. Of course, he missed it all sometimes, but he couldn't afford to. "No. Not really-" Y/N groaned, "No no no, don't start lying to me. Truth only, please."

He let out a sigh, trying to hide his chuckle. He stared at her in what she would call fondness. He can't believe how much she's grown from the little girl who would hide behind him and scream every time a crow would land in front of them. "Yes, I miss home. But we can't dwell on it too much."

She smiled to herself, "I know."

~

"So you think we can actually pull this off?" Jesper's voice held a tone of disbelief as he placed his hands on the table. Kaz only nodded his head and started rolling up the maps. "Okay... We're gonna break into the Ice Court. No problem." Y/N chuckled and brushed her hair back for the tenth time as the sea salt wind swept through her braid. "Yeah, no problem at all. Not like it's the most secure building in the world." Kaz shot her a sharp glare to which she just stuck her tongue out at him. Nina smirked and nudged the younger girl, "No sarcasm, lil Brekker."