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Hi guys, it's the author (Narly) here.
In light of recent events, I have decided to discontinue this fic.
I loved writing this, and I appreciate all of the support I got. This fic felt very low-pressure and I loved that. I didn't feel the need to get it right, and you all still seemed to enjoy it. I'm really genuinely happy about that. Thank you for all the support you showed <3
Now, I hate leaving this off with no ending. While I don't intend to write any more, I would like to share with you all my plans for this story. (Please keep in mind this outline is loose and very bare-bones, I was winging this story for the most part haha)
Here it is (and also please keep in mind there is some unreliable narrator here):
Wilbur died 4 months ago, the family is broken. Techno just throws himself into fencing, Phil into work, leaving Tommy alone. He tries to throw himself into anything, but he just can't. So one lonely day, he finally goes back to the beach.
It was the first time he's been there since Wilbur died, and Tommy doesn't know how to feel about it. It's familiar, but not quite right. Not without Wilbur.
Tommy dips his feet in the water, but sees something moving that he doesn't recognize and pulls himself out and goes home.
He keeps coming back over the next week, something calling him there, but he can't find out why. He decides to go for a swim one day, and comes face-to-face with someone who looks exactly like Wilbur. The person waves at Tommy, but Tommy can't breathe underwater and he swims until he gets to the surface. The person follows, leading Tommy to the shore, and Tommy is so excited to talk to his brother until he realizes that the person is a siren (Mumza told him about them). Not Wilbur. He thanks the siren and leaves, dejected.
He doesn't intend to come back, but something at home drives him away and he needs any form of comfort, even if it's pretending that a siren is his brother. He comes back and the siren finds him, and the two swim around together. Tommy finds out the siren can understand him but he can't understand the siren, so the siren gives him a scale from his tail and once it touches Tommy, he can understand the siren. And the siren sounds EXACTLY LIKE WILBUR. Tommy freaks out and runs, ignoring the calls to come back.
Tommy hides the scale, not wanting to throw it away but also not wanting to keep it, and he doesn't intend to return to the ocean for a while. But he just can't stay away. Pretending is better than staying in the stupid empty house where no one cares about him anymore. So he goes back, the scale now on a necklace, and he and not-Wilbur just hang out, pretending like nothing happened. The siren shows him cool places in the sea, and Tommy is so happy to be there... until the siren is called back to his pod. He apologizes and says he'll be back another day.
Tommy goes home and Phil asks halfheartedly where he was, and Tommy says the beach. Phil nods and moves on, continuing to ignore him.
Tommy and the siren hang out for a while, but then the six month anniversary of Wilbur’s death comes. Phil and Techno won't talk to Tommy, and Tommy just needs to get out, so he goes to his and Wilbur's special spot. The siren finds him and Tommy tells him about Wilbur, and the siren understands that that's why Tommy ran away at first. Tommy cries and the siren consoles him, telling Tommy that he's lost his family too. The siren doesn't remember anything for most of his life, but knows that his parents are gone. He lives on his own in the pod, basically an outcast. Tommy empathizes with him about feeling left out and mentions what's going on at home. He and the siren agree that they find escapism in each other. They even call each other brothers.
Soon after, the siren comes to him upset. Tommy asks why, but the siren brushes him off. Tommy gets upset, afraid that the siren will leave him, too. The siren assures him that isn't the problem and explains that it's an issue between him and his pod. Tommy gets upset for him and offers to help, but the siren wants escapism. So they just hang out.
When Tommy gets home, it's late, and Phil asks where he was, and he's mad. Tommy explains that he was at the beach, and Phil gets upset at how much time he's been spending there and forbids Tommy from going back. The two fight, harsh words are said, and Tommy says something about Phil not loving him anymore before running away. Phil calls after him but doesn't follow, and Tommy doesn't know what hurts more: the fight, or Phil just letting him go.
Tommy makes his way back to the beach, where he calls out for the siren. The siren doesn't appear for a while, but once he does, he seems concerned for something. Tommy tells the siren what happened, and the siren is pushed aside by a new siren, the siren chief. The chief tries to kill Tommy, which is what sirens are supposed to do to all humans but the first siren was too attached to do, and the first siren fights for Tommy. The two battle, and Tommy uses his last air to drive some sea glass into the chief's heart, making the chief let go and giving the first siren enough time to take him down before Tommy blacks out.
When Tommy wakes up, he's on the shore. He throws up a bit of saltwater, and while he recovers he spots his siren friend, who is sitting farther off at his and Wilbur's special spot. Tommy gets up and walks over to him, asking him what happened. The siren explains that the chief is gone, and that he's banned from his pod. Tommy apologizes, but the siren refuses to accept it. He admits that something else happened when the chief died... His scale was given to the siren along with a calling from the sea. The sea told him that Tommy would be able to wish for a siren return to their life before if he so chose, as a trade (a life for a life, there was supposed to be a reason for this but I never got around to planning it). The siren gives Tommy the scale, and Tommy asks if the siren is okay with becoming human again. The siren admits that he's scared, since he can't remember it. He doesn't know who he was.
Tommy tells him that it doesn't matter (despite Tommy having suspicions that the siren is Wilbur) and that they can work it out day by day. They make a pact that they're stuck with each other no matter what, and the siren accepts Tommy's offer.
The siren is Wilbur (no surprise) and he remembers everything. The two are then found by Phil and Techno, who are shocked at Wilbur's return. They don't believe it at first, but they find it to be true. Tommy and Wilbur promise to explain at home, and the family goes home. Tommy knows this won't fix what broke when Wilbur died, but that they can work it out. Besides, he has his brother again, so he's confident that things will be okay.
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Thank you all so much again for all of your support on this fic. I'm incredibly grateful that I was able to share my writing here and that people enjoyed reading it.
With that, I will be taking my leave from the SBI fandom. Thank you for all of the memories and good times.
I hope you all have a good day. Remember to take care of yourselves!
~ Narly <3