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"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Tommy shouts, shoving Tubbo back. He glares at the boy he used to call his best friend, fury bubbling in his chest as he stares at him. The bags under his eyes are unbelievably noticeable, and Tommy can't bring himself to care. He stands in the fighting position Techno taught him, his hand on the hilt of his sword. He doesn't know if he could kill Tubbo if it really came down to it, but he's convinced that he could at least knock him out. Maybe, if he really tried, he could hurt him. Tommy doesn't want to hurt him, he doesn't want to hurt Tubbo. But he will, if Tubbo doesn't fucking let up. "I don't fucking like you!" Tommy yells, clenching his hands into fists. "You- you're the reason everything bad has happened!" He snarls, feeling angrier and angrier with each word. "You know what, Tubbo?" Tommy breathes in, narrowing his eyes. "Your fucking horns are showing."
Tubbo blinks, his eyes watering a little. Good. "I didn't.." Tubbo breathes out, shaking his head. "Listen, Tommy," he sounds so calm, so annoyingly fucking calm. Tommy hates that, why does he sound so fucking calm? Why is he so calm, why does he get to be calm? This is all because of him! "I don't care if you hate me or not," he murmurs, shaking his head again. "But you need to come with me, Tommy. Dream is going to find you if you don't come to New L'manberg with me," Tubbo stands a little taller, his shoulders slouching. He looks exhausted. Tommy feels a pang of guilt, but he shoves it down, refusing to think about it. "I don't want anything to happen to you, Tommy. You're my be- I don't know if you think it, but you're..you're my best friend."
"I'm not," Tommy tells him, curling his lip up. "I'm not your best friend. You're not mine, either. You stopped being my best friend when you chose your country over me. Tubbo, I was so fucking close," he laughs, feeling bitter resentment in the back of his throat. "I was so close to just..giving up. I was so close. If I hadn't ran when I did, I would have..I would've.." he closes his eyes. "And it would've been your fault. It's all your fault! It's all your fault, and I just...I thought.." Tommy feels himself shake, anger controlling his every motion. "I thought I could rely on you."
"You can!" Tubbo protests. "I'm trying to help you right now, and you're not..you're not fucking listening!" Tubbo shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut. "Tommy, please. Please, just..just come to New L'manberg with me. I don't want you to get hurt, and if he finds you, he'll hurt you," Tubbo breathes out. "We're both on our last lives, Tommy. You know that, right? If you get too hurt out here, I can't..I don't have any way to help you survive. Please, Tommy. Please come with me. Just for now, okay? Tommy, I'm.." he shakes his head again. "I'm begging you, Tommy. I don't want you to get hurt."
Tommy stares at him, feeling his chest hurt. "I'd like to believe you, big man," he scoffs, "but I can't. I've got no good reason to believe you. Not anymore. Not aft-"
"Tommy!" Tubbo screams, and Tommy feels his ears ring. Tubbo grabs him by the arm, throwing him to the ground. Tommy opens his mouth to yell back at him, annoyance pulsing in his head, but-
"Wow, that was really stupid of you, Tubbo," Dream laughs. Tommy frowns, whirling around to face the man. What was stupid of Tubbo? When did Dream get here? How did Dream find him? "Well," Dream's mask smiles at him. "I guess that'll be a lesson for next time you try to run. See you later, Tommy." Tubbo is standing in front of him, and..what? What the hell happened? Tommy scrambles up to his feet, looking down at his sword that fell out of its sheath, laying on the ground where he had been.
"That's what I thought, you green bastard!" Tommy shouts, laughing a little when he does. He watches Dream disappear through the trees, his bright green jacket fading from Tommy's vision. "You really thought I couldn't handle myself, T-"
Tubbo falls to his knees, his hands clutching his chest. "Tommy," Tubbo whispers, his voice eerily still and calm. "You need to run," he clears his throat. "You need to run, r- right..right no- now.." Tommy breathes out, feeling terror strike his heart.
There's an arrow sticking out of Tubbo's chest. And there's blood, god, there's so much blood, and he- he's-
"Tubbo!" Tommy cries out, rushing to move in front of him, falling to the ground next to him. He puts his hands on Tubbo's shoulders, staring at the arrow. "You- you.." he feels his heart hammer in his chest, his eyes watering. Tubbo got shot. "He hurt you," Tommy whispers, not able to say anything else. Tubbo just..he just.. "No, no, no, Tubbo, you were- you're on your last..Tubbo, you can't.."
Tubbo breathes out, leaning forwards. He drops his head on Tommy's shoulder, sniffling. "I know. You're okay," he murmurs. "You're okay. He didn't hurt you, right? You're okay. I'm sorry," Tubbo whispers. "I'm really, really sorry. I thought that, I don't know, that he'd..help. That he'd go with you, and that you'd be okay, but I was wrong. I saw the tower, and I thought..I thought you died, I thought you hurt yourself. And I saw the compass, and I.." Tubbo trails off, his voice weaker and weaker with each word. "I thought you were gone. I never got to say goodbye, I never got to say sorry. I'm so sorry, Tommy. I thought I was doing what was right, but I wasn't, and I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Tommy. I'm sorry." Tommy shakes his head, pulling Tubbo in for a hug, trying his best to not hurt him even more.
"It's okay," he whispers. "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay. It's okay, big man. It's all good, it's alright. Nothing's wrong, you're- I forgive you, I f- I forgive you. I'm sorry, Tubbo, I shouldn't..I shouldn't have.." Tommy is crying, he feels himself crying. He's fucking crying. Tommy holds his friend even closer, gripping him as tight as he can. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault, and I..I didn't.."
"It's alright," Tubbo laughs, gasping for breath. "It's okay. I knew what I was doing. It was..there was no other choice," he murmurs. "I didn't have another choice. You know, Tommy," Tubbo whispers, "I promised to protect you. Wilbur made me. He made me promise, that no matter what, I'd protect you. And I broke that promise when I..when I exiled you. So, I..I don't..I didn't want to break that promise again. No matter what, Tommy, I'll always protect you," Tubbo pulls back, his eyes tired and devoid of the light they used to have. "I'm sorry."
"Don't say that," Tommy shakes his head. "Don't. We're..we've gotten past that. We're..you're my best friend, Tubbo. I was supposed to..to protect.."
Tubbo smiles. "You're okay. Let's stop talking about that, yeah? We're just.." he breathes out. "We're okay. Best friends, yeah? We've always been best friends. Do you think that.." he closes his eyes. "Tommy, I don't want you to stay here. Not in New L'manberg. I want you to go somewhere else. Go be with your family. Phil and Techno and Wilbur, they're all your family. L'manberg is a people," he murmurs. "Not a place. It's never been a place, it's always been..it's more than that, yeah? It'll always be more than that. And, you know, I just.." he pauses. "It took me a long time to realise that. I didn't know what we were fighting for. And when we finally won it, it didn't feel..real, I guess. I felt like I should've been fighting, that I should've been back on the battlefield, risking my life for something."
"But-"
"That's not home," Tubbo murmurs. "That wasn't home. You know what is home, Tommy?" Tubbo opens his eyes, smiling. "You are. You're home. You are my home, and I'm really glad that we got to talk again."
Tommy laughs. "Tubbo, this isn't..this isn't really the best, um, the best way to..to talk."
"Yeah," Tubbo agrees. "Yeah. But it's okay," he smiles. "I'm glad I got to talk to you again. I love you, Tommy. You don't have to say it back if you don't want to, I ju-"
"I love you, Tubbo," Tommy whispers. "I love you. I know I said I didn't, but I do. You're my best friend, Tubbo. You're always gonna be my best friend. Do you remember, um, that one time..where Fundy got himself stuck in that tree?" Tommy asks. "And Wilbur tried to get him unstuck, but it just made Wilbur get stuck, and Fundy was screaming and yellin', and then they were both really just struggling to get out of that fuckin' tree?" Tubbo laughs, nodding his head heavily.
"I do, I do. He really couldn't get out of that tree. And then Eret," he grins. "He had to come and try to help, but he ended up getting stuck up there, too. And it took Niki grabbing Wilbur by the leg to get him out," Tubbo smiles. "But she couldn't get Eret or Fundy out of the tree, and so we had to make them a little place to land?" Tubbo sighs. "And then that tree became the..the, uh, the L'mantree."
"The L'mantree," Tommy agrees. "I remember sitting under that tree, with you. We always went there to relax. And we'd..you'd read me shit, sometimes. Shit about plants and herbs and bees and shit, and I..I liked that, Tubbo. It was nice."
Tubbo smiles at him. "It was," he agrees. "It was nice. You know, I think I'd like to be cremated," Tubbo tells him. "You can just carry me around, you know? That sounds cool. I never really thought about it until now," he snorts. "But, well..you know."
"I know," Tommy whispers. "I wish it wasn't happening."
"It's okay," Tubbo says, even though it isn't. "I don't regret it. I'd do it again."
"I know you would. I wish you wouldn't."
"Too late."
Tommy nods, looking down at the blood that stains his white shirt. Tubbo's blood. "Too late," he agrees. "I love you, Tubbo. You were a really good President. And an even better friend, and..and all that," he shakes his head. "I'm..I'm really gonna miss you, big man."
"I'm gonna miss you too, Tommy," Tubbo looks at him, blood trickling down the side of his mouth. "I love you, too. You're gonna be strong for me," Tubbo tells him. "You have to be strong for me. Whatever you do when I'm gone," he breathes out. "I know it'll be the right thing. I'll support you no matter what, no matter what you do. I'll always support you, Tommy. You're going to be alright. I promise." He's lying, they both know that. But Tommy doesn't say anything, he doesn't call his bluff.
"I will," he agrees. "Not for awhile, but I will be. You don't have to stay anymore," Tommy whispers, his heart shattering at the words. "You can go. I know it's hard to..to hold on, but it's..it's okay. You can go now, Tubbo."
Tubbo smiles at him, tears falling down his cheeks. "Okay, Tommy. I love you. You'll be okay. You always will be." He smiles a little less, closing his eyes slowly. Tommy watches his chest rise and fall, watches the arrow rise with it.
He watches Tubbo stop breathing.
Tommy screams, crying into the night. He clutches his best friend even closer to him, sobbing into the crook of his neck, begging him to come back, begging him to be alive. Tommy sobs and cries and yells and whispers apologies that mean nothing because Tubbo is already gone and dead and-
Tommy stills.
He's going to kill him. He's going to kill Dream, no matter what it takes.
He took Tommy's best friend from him.
Tommy is going to make him suffer.