Chapter Text
It was dark.
Tommy was certain he had his eyes open, but all that surrounded him was a black blanket. Almost as if he was floating. Had he woken up? He doesn’t even remember falling asleep. Where was he? Was he alone? No, Dream was with him.
Dream?
Faint memories of being trapped, unable to walk. Dream was there, briefly. His wicked grin taunting him, laughing at him.
Breathing became difficult, the dark void filling every craves of his body, suffocating him. Dream’s chuckle echoed in his head, never-ending. There was nothing but the humming of nothingness in his body, his legs numb and head pounding. Then all at once his memories came flooding back, drowning him. Like a movie playing out in his mind. An axe being lifted up into the air above his legs. It came crashing down on him.
Tommy screamed.
Then he woke up.
No more black stone encasing him, instead the familiar walls of a small home in the middle of the tundra. Laboured breaths pushed past his lips. He was safe, right? Then why did his thoughts stay persistent, the image of an axe replaying in his mind.
“-ommy, Tommy?”
He hadn’t even realised someone was there with him. The covers of the duvet were forced out of his clenched fist and his hand was gently placed on a warm surface. Tommy immediately noticed the soft beat, matching his own to the melodic tune. Eventually he calmed down, wiping away tears he didn’t remember appearing. Glancing up he saw Phil’s soft face, smiling warmly. Relaxing his shoulders, he didn’t need to doubt himself, he was safe.
Phil brought him into a tight embrace, whispering sincere apologies into his ear whilst fingers ran through his hair. Any other time he would’ve pushed the man away, arguing he doesn’t need pity from anyone. But this didn’t feel like pity. As the man’s wings covered him, it reminded him of a distant time when this would happen often. Oh, how he had missed this.
They stayed still, just the two of them, before Phil pulled back, “How are you feeling Tommy?”
Tommy laughed, it was laugh he would always use to try and hide how he really felt, he was sure Phil knew that too, “I’ve been better, big man.”
“I know, I’m sorry-” Phil began.
He lifted a hand to stop him, “It’s not your fault Phil, you didn’t know Techno was going to do that.”
“I should have stopped that idiot though.”
“I don’t blame you for any of it, I hope you know that.”
Phil smiled, and Tommy could sense the hidden sadness that the winged man was feeling, the guilt he was very obviously holding on his shoulders. He decided to, hesitantly, change the situation, “…what about- what about Dream.”
“Prison.” The smile seemed a little bit more genuine this time, “we brought you two back and Sam immediately offered to imprison Dream once he had heard what had happened. I don’t think he is going to be out for a long time.”
“I- that’s good.”
“yeah, it is, I promise I won’t let him get to you ever again.”
“…and- and the others? Where are they?”
“Tubbo and Techno are waiting downstairs, you’ve been asleep for two days straight. It has been- it has been tense, to say the least. No fighting at the moment so that’s good, I guess. Tubbo refused to leave once we brought you back here.” Tommy heard the door open and shut on the floor below. “Oh, that’s probably Ranboo too, I bet he has just joined them.”
“Ranboo?” Tommy cocked his head to the side.
“Yeah, he came with us. To be honest I think he spoke some sense into Techno as Tubbo and Techno haven’t really fought much since the day you were taken. He waited outside Dream’s base for us. Do you- do you remember much?”
Tommy nodded his head hesitantly; Phil squeezed his hand as if to signal it was safe if he wanted to talk about it. “It wasn’t nice.” He hated how quite his voice sounded, “I- He-”
“You don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“My, my legs. Oh my god my legs, are they- are they okay?”
“Hey, hey, calm down for me Tommy, deep, slow breaths.” Tommy followed as Phil moved off the bed. He realised since he had woken up, he hadn’t really felt anything in his legs. His heart sped up. Gently Phil lifted the blanket. His heart promptly returned to its normal beat. One leg was a little swollen and bruised, definitely looking better than last time he had looked though. The other was still bandaged up but they were fresh bandages this time, not stained with blood. He was sure there were going to be scars.
“We used some potions; it will probably ache and sting for a little while, but I expect you can probably be walking without any assistance in the next few days,” Phil explained.
“Thank you,” he sighed, relieved.
Dream hadn’t managed to permanently damage him. And now the crazed man was in prison, locked up and unable to get to him. For the first time in a while, Tommy felt at peace.
However, Phil happened to break it, “Do you want to talk to any of the others?”
His initial thought was no, of course he did not want to talk to them. He could talk to his best friend, who he was sure hated him due to the fact that he chose his nation over their friendship. Anger welled up inside of him, a hint of sadness accompanying him. Dream had told him Tubbo had abandoned him but Dream was a liar. Techno had said Tubbo didn’t like him anymore, but then again, he also gave Tommy away without a second thought. And after everything, he couldn’t bring himself to hate the guy, every second of his exile he missed him.
Or he could talk to the guy who has previously destroyed his home. A man that had a sudden change of heart by taking him in after his exile, only to completely betray him once again. Still, just like Tubbo, he couldn’t bring himself to hate the piglin. They had all come to rescue him, maybe it was out of pity or maybe it showed that they still somewhat cared about him. Tommy was confused.
Phil seemed to sense that, “why don’t I send Ranboo up first, you could chat with him?”
Nodding, he accepted. That was a start, Ranboo had helped him a lot through exile and then came to help him and Techno afterwards. Ranboo had never betrayed him, so he was sure he felt comfortable talking to him. Phil moved to the door, saying that Ranboo will be up in a moment before shutting the door behind him.
-----
Sat at the kitchen table, Tubbo watched Phil come down the ladder. He gestured to Ranboo, who got the message, replacing Phil at the bottom of the ladder before climbing up them. That just left the three of them sat quietly, no one talking.
He wasn’t surprised that Ranboo went to talk to Tommy before him. As soon as he heard the scream, he wanted to go to them, but Techno had stopped him. Of course, that had frustrated him but now he could see why the hybrid had done so. Tommy probably didn’t want to talk to him, he probably hated him. He had exiled someone. He obviously wasn’t a very good friend. A pillar towering over the remains of Logstedshire will forever be imprinted in his mind. All he wished to do was apologise, talk about past regrets, try and clear things up. But he was going to have to wait until Tommy wanted to talk to him first.
Awkward was a good word to describe the silence they waited in. Tubbo and Techno had refused to even look at each other ever since they got back. Tubbo rejected Techno’s request for him to leave, not even submitting once the piglin threatened him. Phi once again stepped in, pleading that they were both somewhat mature about this whole situation. That caused Tubbo to think. Maybe there was a possibility of them being ‘mature’. Sure, Techno had previously killed him and blew up his nation and Tubbo attempted to execute him. On this server though, that looked like a normal relationship. Everyone always seemed to have a problem with someone else. it was normal to resort to violence as an answer, it was how everyone was brought up on this cursed server. So maybe there was something salvageable. After all, Techno allowed Tubbo to help and Tubbo had trusted him enough to follow his orders.
He had to push that though aside as Ranboo came down the ladder. Once he reached the floor, he turned to the table, “Tommy wants to see both Tubbo and Techno at the same time.”
“What?”
“Heh?”
Both were just as confused as each other. Phil spoke up as Tubbo found himself unsure on what to say, “that’s what he said he wanted?”
“Yep,” the enderman confirmed, “wanted to talk to them together, said he would prefer it that way as he believes the three of them have quite a bit to talk about.”
Tubbo gulped. Tommy was definitely right about that. Techno stood up silently, moving towards the ladder. Turning to look Tubbo in the eyes for the first time since they got back to his house, he tilted his head towards the entrance to the floor above. Guess he has no choice now, Tubbo got up and followed Techno upstairs.
Knocking gently on the door, he turned the handle once Tommy told them to come in. Pushing it open, he smiled weakly at Tommy, who held a neutral expression. Tommy patted the edge of the bed. Tubbo hesitantly sat down as Techno made his way to the opposite wall, sliding down onto the floor. The world was still. You could cut through the tension with a knife. No one said anything and Tubbo realised it was probably going to stay that way if he didn’t do anything about it, “Tommy, I want to- I want to apologise”
Tommy hummed to indicate that he should keep going.
“I’m, I’m so sorry,” he decided to make eye contact with him, looking deep into his sapphire eyes, the glint he was so used to now looking dull, “there are so many things I did wrong, I don’t know where to begin. I- sorry, I’m sorry.” God it was so hard to open up when he could feel Techno’s glare bore into the back of his skull.
For a moment, Tommy just stared, before slowly opening his mouth, “Tubbo do you hate me?”
The voice was hushed and he could hear the shakiness it held. Tubbo was taken aback by the question at first. Then he realised why the blond had asked it. Tubbo couldn’t help but feel like a terrible friend, “no, no. No of course I don’t, I thought you hated me-”
Chuckling, which Tubbo did not expect, Tommy interrupted him, “You thought I hated you?
“Why wouldn’t you? I- I exiled you.”
Tommy sighed, “I tried to hate you, I really did Tubbo. You know how hard exile was? I don’t think anyone understands what I went through.” He let out a nervous laugh before continuing, “I thought you hated me because you abandoned me for L’Manberg. At first I was angry but I just became too tired though, I missed you. Can you believe that? I missed the guy who exiled me, weird right?”
Tubbo could practically hear his heart breaking. Tommy wasn’t angry at him, in fact he missed him and that sadden him so much. His best friend was left alone and it was all his fault and Tommy couldn’t even bring himself to hate him. “Tommy I-” tears sprouted at the corner of his eyes, “I am so sorry, I regret everything so, so much. I- I-” He let a choked sob escape his lips, “Tommy I saw the tower, I thought you had- I thought you had died.”
Tommy stiffened, avoiding his worried stare.
“I’m s-so sorry you had to go through that. You were, you were all alone. It was my fault. It was all my fault.” At this point he was babbling apologises nonstop. A hand rested on his shoulder, through his blurred vision he watched Tommy smile.
“Tubbo you came to save me though,” Tubbo shook his head, the guilt pulling on his heart strings. “I can tell you are sorry; I can tell you regret it. I missed you big T. I forgive you.”
Tubbo broke down. Pretty pathetic, he thought. He had no right to be so upset over simple words. Tommy was the one who had been to hell and back. Tommy was the one who was almost pushed to taking his own life. Tommy was the one giving forgiveness to the person who had put him through all of that.
“I-”
He was pulled into a hug. Crying into his friends shoulder he wrapped his arms around the blond. Tommy quietly let out a cry too, both boys shaking slightly as they held each other. The shorter boy apologising again and again and the taller boy blabbering about how much he had missed him.
Once again, the world stilled. It was as if Techno wasn’t quietly watching from across the room. Just the two of them, almost as if it was like they were sat back on a bench listening to the soft tune of a disc playing in a jukebox.
Pulling away he softly laughed, “I missed you too Tommy.”
A cough interrupted them and both turned to look at the piglin, awkwardly sitting there.
“I guess, I guess I should apologise too.” He grunted, turning his glance towards the door.
“I can’t believe the Technoblade is apologising to me.” Tommy mocked
“Yeah, yeah, don’t get used to it.” He paused for a moment, “But seriously, I know I messed up.”
“I don’t hate you though, just like with Tubbo I couldn’t bring myself to do that.”
Techno just nodded and Tubbo understood that he appreciated the forgiveness. This time the silence that settled wasn’t awkward, it was nice. He knew that Techno wasn’t going to say anything else, the ha always preferred silence over a conversation.
“Y’know,” Tommy started, “are you two both going to stay here?”
“What do you mean?” Tubbo asked.
“Well, it’s more directed at Techno,” he replied, looking at the hybrid, “are you going to let Tubbo stay here whilst I’m here?”
“I am not leaving.” Tubbo interjected.
“Well, I don’t think that’s your decision to make,” Techno huffed. Tubbo tensed but then relaxed slightly as he saw Techno also relax his shoulder, “but I guess we can be civil?”
Tubbo watched as he got up, walking over then outstretching a hand, “for the sake of Tommy?”
“Yeah, I can agree to that. For the sake of Tommy.” he confirmed, shaking Techno’s hand.
“What?” Tommy piped up.
“Don’t worry about it,” Techno stopped any more question, ruffling Tommy’s hair, “welcome back Theseus.”
Without another word he left, leaving the two boys alone. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Tommy was safe, Dream in prison and his relationship with Techno could be considered ‘civil’ now.
Tubbo turned back to Tommy, “yeah, welcome back big man.”