Chapter Text
“Hello Almond!” Parfait exclaimed, setting her phone down on the counter on speaker so her and Pastry could both talk to the detective. “You told me you wanted to speak to us?”
“Yes,” he replied. “I wanted to congratulate you, for starters. You guys and your relationship is kind of all over the news right now.”
Parfait laughed, watching Pastry’s face turn a bright shade of red. “Yeah, that kinda happens when you’re considered a celebrity.”
“So with that, I assume that Pastry living with you has gone well?”
“Yes,” Pastry replied, shaking her head to try and rid herself of her shyness. “Parfait was super kind to me, and she helped me in many ways. I… never thought that I would be able to free myself of the Order, but… she somehow made it better for the most part. I can go outside without her, and I even have a job down at Herb’s Floral Shop.”
“Oh, the Order!” he exclaimed, and papers could be rustling in the background. “Parfait had texted me about it, and earlier, I wasn’t legally allowed to tell you guys, but now I can! I’d say a month or so after you had gone to Parfait’s, we had caught them. You mentioned a cookie helping you in the forest, and I realized you were probably talking about Werewolf.”
“Werewolf? Who’s that?”
“A friend of mine. We’re on close terms, though he prefers to stay in the forest and away from the city, since he’s sensitive to loud noises and lights and… well, people. But after talking to Werewolf, he had recalled helping you, and he helped me track them down. We were able to surround them, and we outnumbered them, so they went down easily. Everyone was locked up, and we were able to get many stories from there. We found many members were trauma victims, just like you, but many didn’t understand what was wrong with the place. I would’ve called you guys to let you know we had got them, but I couldn’t until their trials were over.”
“Trials?” Pastry asked.
“Mhm. Each of them had to go on trial, though some of them were being charged with heavier crimes than the others. It was kept a private matter for the most part at the time, because the last thing the media needed was a huge cultish group thing, but many of your members were found innocent. A lot of them have gone to places where they can seek help, and many have found the flaws of that place. We’re still trying to help many more, but you’ve proven to be the best recovered, Pastry.”
“That’s… amazing!” she exclaimed. “I… was worried about some of them. If I had been almost killed, then… how many were killed?”
“Too many,” Almond said with a sigh. “This news isn’t for someone who is queasy, but we found many cookie remains that had clearly been murdered. Your Reverend Mother and Shadow Sister are currently in jail right now, and many other members are still being tried. But you shouldn’t have to worry about them ever coming for you again.”
“That’s good,” muttered Pastry, staring down at her hands. Is this… fair? I escaped from there, but I never had a proper trial. I… haven’t killed, but I have hurt people. Should I ask him? They were all my family at one point, so why is it fair I get to be free and they’re not?
“Hey, are you alright?” Parfait asked, touching her lightly on the shoulder.
“I just…” she took a deep breath, and sighed, “It’s just not fair. I’m here, having fun with you, when I was never properly tried either.”
“Do you… need to be tried?” Almond asked.
“I… haven’t killed anyone,” she muttered. “But… they’ve made me hurt people… and… how is it fair that I got to go free and they didn’t?” She felt tears in her eyes, and she tried to wipe them away before Parfait noticed, but it was too late.
“Pastry…” Parfait muttered, pulling her in for a hug. “It’s alright now, you don’t have to do that anymore. You’re safe here.”
“Pastry, I know a lot of this is legal work you wouldn’t understand, but I am not going to trial you for many reasons,” Almond said plainly. “Number one, you are a victim here. Many of your sisters have shown the same trauma as you, just not to the full extent since they didn’t know your Reverend would kill you for disobedience. Number two, it’s so long past at this point, trying to get you tried would put too much paperwork and pressure on the two of you. Number three, you have proved you’re not a danger to society, and finally, I feel as if you would be worse off if we separated you from Parfait at this point. She is helping you, right?”
Pastry wiped her eyes and sniffled, “Yeah.”
“Well then I see no reason for you to be tried. If you’re ever curious about your Sisters, we can organize visits for you guys. But Reverend Mother and Shadow Sister are both locked up along with any others who have killed, so you should have no fear of them coming for you.”
Pastry didn’t reply, but still held Parfait in a hug. Parfait reached for her phone, saying, “Well, if that’s it, Almond, then we are going to go, alright?”
“Yep, that about sums it up. If anything pops up, I’ll let you know, but from the sounds of it, I can mark your case file as resolved. You two have fun, alright?” They agreed, then heard the phone start beeping, signaling her hung up.
Parfait looked up at Pastry, and asked, “Hey, is there anything I can do? I know I can never take that guilt away, but… I want to try and help you as much as I can.”
Pastry stood there in silence, still seeming shaken up from the reminder of her past, but then she nodded slightly. Taking a deep breath, she quietly said, “Please… don’t let me hurt anyone ever again.”
Parfait reached her hand up, gently stroking her hair. “I won’t… I promise.”
A bittersweet moment, they stood there in their apartment’s kitchen, wrapped in one another’s embrace. On the counter that served as a tabletop was a book, glitter, tape, and many other art utensils, along with many, many pictures. Pictures that Parfait had taken of them all throughout the year, some of them Pastry has no memory of ever being in. But the scrapbooking idea that Parfait had come up with was quickly forgotten about, as the two of them stood there.
But even the sad moments couldn’t last forever, and Parfait looked sheepishly up at Pastry. “Can we take this to the couch or the bed or something? My legs hurt.” she said, laughing lightly.
Pastry laughed along, glad that no matter what, she always seemed to brighten up the mood. So she let herself be led to the bed, where the two of them sat cuddled together. Propped up against pillows, they leaned side by side, allowing Parfait to play with Pastry’s hair.
Leaning over, Pastry pecked her on the cheek real light, catching Parfait by surprise. But her shock quickly turned to joy, as her face turned red. Laughing, she kissed Pastry back, throwing her arms around her in a hug.
Even though they had just been sad, the feeling of sorrow had quickly dissipated and been replaced with them laughing and play fighting, kissing each other like lovers reunited after war.
I will never forget my life with the Order. The past where I hurt people for a horrible ‘truth’ and had to run away from to save my life. But… She has fixed me. I may never be perfect, but… I love who I am with her.
And while she could never find the courage to say these words aloud, she would let her know that’s how she felt. And besides, Parfait didn’t need words to know that. The pure, innocent love that came from her was enough to say so.
“I love you,” whispered Pastry, giggling and almost giddy to say such a thing and mean it.
Parfait smiled and laughed, kissing her once again. “I love you too, Pastry.”