Chapter Text
No matter what horrors the day brought them, come sunset they inevitably found themselves back in the same place. Just Tommy and Tubbo, sitting side by side on the little bench outside his house as the sun went down and a disc played on the beat up old jukebox. Throughout everything they had been through this one little ritual had remained constant, whether by habit or by chance.
Tonight was not a break in that pattern. The two of them were perched next to each other in grave contemplation, words having gone cold and stale in their mouths long ago. The sunset, spectacular as ever, had mostly sunken beneath the hills, only a dim smear of peach still lingering on the horizon. Off behind them Tommy knew that what was once L'Manburg lay a smoldering crater, but here on the hillside the overbearing choke of ash was barely noticeable, and the cloying smoke of the Withers had dissipated to reveal an ink black sky studded with crystalline stars.
It was beautiful. He was home, finally, and nobody would chase him out again. They had won the battle, the tyrant was dead, their land was reclaimed. On paper it was a victory; hard won and not without losses, but a triumph nonetheless.
Tommy's heart ached.
The leaves of the lone tree rustled behind them. It wasn't exactly uncommon, the branches were supple and swayed easily in the slightest breeze. Only... The air was dead around them, heavy on their skin.
Tommy snapped around, hand falling to his sword. Most of his equipment had been lost in the battle, but he had found a few mismatched items in the wreckage to supplement the missing pieces. This particular sword was a bluish diamond blade, unenchanted but with a wickedly sharp edge.
The dim light coupled with the deep shadow cast by the tree made it impossible for Tommy to make out anything but the barest edges of a silhouette: an arm, a leg, the jut of a shoulder. The intruder tilted their head up to face him, pushing away the hood that had hidden their face, and he recoiled. "What the fuck."
The porcelain white mask shone ethereally bright in the moonlight, the smile engraved upon it taunting him. Dream laughed casually, sauntering up to lean against the back of the bench as if he owned the damn thing. "Easy there Tommy, I don't bite."
He spat. "You do."
He could tell that Dream was smirking beneath the mask, the bastard. "Alright, maybe sometimes. Right now, though, I'm just here to have a civil conversation with L'Manburg's new leader and his vice president. I don't think that's so unreasonable, do you?"
Tubbo glared. "Why should we trust you? You sided with Schlatt! You're just gonna make us lower our guard and then stab us, we aren't idiots."
Dream shook his head, raising his arms in defeat. "Look, if it makes you feel better I'll disarm myself." He detached his sword from his belt, letting it slip to the grass, and lowered the axe that had been strapped to his back to join it. "See? Totally harmless. I just want to talk, I swear."
"Harmless my ass, you're just-"
Tubbo raised a hand, pressing it against Tommy's shoulder. "Tommy, let him speak." Tommy screwed his face up at that but Tubbo continued, malice lacing his words. "If he tries anything then don't hold back. I wanna see the hillside painted red with his blood." Tommy nodded begrudgingly.
Dream chuckled. "Thank you Tubbo. You're far more reasonable than either of your predecessors." Both Tubbo and Tommy flinched, which only seemed to amuse Dream more. "Anyway, the point. I've come to offer you a… proposition."
"I've had it about up to here with your cryptic horseshit, green boy. Get to the point." Tommy clenched his fist around his sword, withdrawing it a few centimeters from its sheath in warning.
"Alright, alright." Tommy could hear the grin in Dream's voice. "You won today, I'll admit that. Not much of a victory if you ask me, but I'm willing to concede this time. You have L'Manburg back and I know you're planning on rebuilding. You'll bring your country back from ruin, get it all nice and orderly, and you know what'll happen?" He didn't wait for a response. "I'll attack it again, or Techno will, or someone else, and you'll be helpless to stop it. You know why? Because you're weak.” He leant forward into Tommy’s space, smooth porcelain inches away from his face. “You've lost your true leader and your greatest weapon. You can struggle all you like but in the end you'll still be on the losing side when it matters. You might've won this battle, but how many more narrow victories will it take before the losses start counting up and your people become disillusioned? It's only a matter of time before-"
Tubbo gritted his teeth, the hand that gripped Tommy's shoulder the only thing stopping the younger boy from lunging. "I really can't see what you're trying to propose here, I'll be honest."
Dream's voice spiked with irritation and he straightened up. "I haven't gotten to that part yet. Look, on your own L'Manburg is weak and doesn’t stand a chance, but if you were to join with me you would have all the strength in the world. Not even Technoblade would be a threat to you."
Tommy choked. "W-what? You must’ve actually lost it!"
Dream ignored him. "My proposal, Tubbo, is this. Rescind your independence and rejoin the Dream SMP. In return I pledge to defend your people as I do the rest of my citizens. There won't even be any kind of penalty imposed on them for past disobedience! And, as long as you play by my rules, I’ll even let you keep power as the first Mayor. This is the only way you can keep your people safe, Tubbo"
The hand on Tommy's shoulder clenched and he knew that come the morning he'd have finger-shaped bruises. "Shut your fucking mouth before I make you, bitch. You're so full of shit!"
"Tommy, please." Tubbo's voice shook.
Dream sighed. "Look, you don't have to decide immediately. I'll be generous even, you can have a week to sit on it. You just need to decide what you value more: power and land or the lives of your people." He pushed himself away from the bench, ducking to collect his weapons. "Same place in one week. No more second chances." He withdrew an ender pearl from the folds of his cloak and tossed it off into the distance, vanishing with a spark of green a moment later.
Tommy was fuming. "How- how fucking dare he? That piece of shit has no goddamn right to look down on us like that, he's so condescending, I can't believe he'd have the fucking audacity to even suggest that! I’m gonna-"
"TOMMY! GOD, WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP?" The hand dropped from Tommy's shoulder. "Please!" Tubbo sucked in a breath. “I’m trying to think!”
Tommy stilled. “What, you’re not seriously considering it?” His tone was joking but Tubbo stared back at him gravely. “Big T, man, this is a fucked up prank.”
“It’s not a prank, Tommy.” Tubbo’ shoulders sunk. “Fuck it, what if he’s right?”
“He’s not! He’s full of shit, Tubbo, you know that! He just wants to get under your skin, make you start doubting yourself!”
“HE IS RIGHT!” Tubbo exploded. “Tommy, L’Manburg is a fucking wreck! Even if you ignore the goddamn crater, which is a big fucking if, everyone’s either wounded or hate each other’s guts over what happened under Schlatt, and maybe if I was Wilbur I could fix it but I’m not, I’m just-” He gasped for breath, shuddering. “I’m just me, Tommy. And maybe, maybe I could pull everyone together, just about, but what happens next time there’s a war? I’m not a warrior like Techno, I’m not charismatic like Wilbur, I’m only president at all because you turned it down!” The silence dragged for a few seconds before he spoke up again, voice just a murmur. “We’ve already lost Wilbur, I can’t let us lose anyone else.”
They had risen from the bench at some point and were standing defensively opposite each other, a few feet that felt like miles separating them. Tommy balled his hand up into a fist, readying a punch he knew he could never stoop so low as to deliver. “So what, you’re just gonna hand L’Manburg over to Dream and pray to the Sky Gods that he doesn’t destroy it for shits and giggles? You’ll just trust in his good fuckin nature?”
Tubbo sobbed, hands flying up to grab at his hair. He tugged at it hard enough to turn his knuckles white, exposing the tips of the horns he tried so hard to hide. “MAYBE? I don’t want to, I don’t, but what if there’s no other choice?” His eyes were wide and pleading, sky blue clouded over with tears. “I just want everyone to be happy, Tommy.”
Maybe if Tommy had known that it would be the last time he ever saw Tubbo he would have acted differently. He might've called out, might've made an attempt to heal the rapidly forming rift between them. All the diamonds in the world could not have bought him the gift of foresight, however, and anger blurred his judgement.
Tommy swallowed, flexing his hands and forcefully releasing his fists. He lowered his gaze to the ground, voice a hoarse whisper when he spoke. “I think you should go.”
There was no response, only a small, gasped sob, followed by the sound of quiet footsteps and the rustle of leaves. When he finally raised his head again he was completely
utterly
alone.