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Tears flowed nonstop down the blonde’s face as he trekked through the snow, making his face even colder in the process. Tommy huffed, using the sleeve of his sweater to wipe the tears away, blinking a couple of times as he continued his journey. He leaned heavily against the handle of a netherite axe, using it as a crutch as he dragged himself through the tundra. Tommy vaguely wondered how much longer until he arrived at his destination, limbs numb with cold. His question was soon answered like a miracle, when Techno’s cottage came into view. It had upgraded, as there was a large structure on the side now, and Tommy could just about make out the shape of another building behind Techno’s home, slightly hidden by a hill. The blonde teen picked up his pace as best he could, ignoring the stinging pain in his body, ignoring the fact that he couldn’t feel his left leg.
Tommy knocked on the wooden door in rapid succession, breathing shakily as he pressed his weight further into the handle of the Axe of Peace. It wasn’t much of that, anymore, but surely Techno wouldn’t mind. Speaking of the piglin hybrid, Technoblade soon opened the door, his gaze landing immediately on Tommy. The blonde looked up to him, standing as straight as he could, and sending the older man a smile. It didn’t reach his eyes.
“Hey big man! I-I’ve stopped by to give your shit back, um, because I.. it’s yours, y’know?” Cold winds stung against his face, smudged wetness still on his cheeks. Techno glared down at the teen.
“Ah, right. Well, I’ll take the axe, then. And if that’s all you’re here for…”
“W-wait, Technoblade, wait!” Tommy exclaimed, raising a hand in a frantic gesture, his balance wobbling slightly. Techno’s eyes narrowed. Tommy felt the gaze chill him more than any snowy tundra could. His blue eyes turned downcast. “Could I.. just stop in for a bit? Just… just to warm up.” Techno was silent, before stepping aside to let the younger in. Tommy gave a quiet thanks, and shuffled inside, doing his best to pretend like he had two working legs, and like he wasn’t numb to the bone. The blonde handed off the axe to his former elder brother, before moving forwards to take a seat on the fur rug in front of the fire. His bandaged hands lifted, trying to warm up. Tommy could feel no warmth coming back to his left leg, he was pretty sure it was lost. Without it, he wasn’t sure how he’d get back up… not that he’d be able to soon, anyways. Techno shut the front door, moving around his house to put away the Axe of Peace in his Enderchest.
“Don’t touch anything, and I don’t want you taking any of my stuff. I have half a mind to kick you out right now, considering how you betrayed me, and all.” Tommy nodded, gaze on the fire. Despite being right in front of it, he couldn’t feel himself warming up too much, not at all. The pain in his side bubbled to an even higher intensity.
“..’M not… I just.. I’m really sorry about all that, Techno. I.. truly, I am.” Techno hummed, and stood behind Tommy, his arms folded over his chest. The blonde’s own arms dropped to the floor, he was too tired to hold them up any longer. The two sat in awkward silence for a moment, before Tommy spoke up again.
“So.. where’s Phil?” The blonde turned his head, gaze meeting Techno’s. His blue eyes seemed to cloud over with a sort of fog, and Techno was unsure of why. The hybrid just shrugged, however.
“He went out with Ranboo. They’ll be back soon, however.” Tommy’s eyes widened, but only slightly, and he turned back to the fire. He ignored the painful squeezing in his chest at the mention of the hybrid teen living here, with his family. Though, Tommy supposed that they hadn’t been family in a long time.. He ignored how that thought hurt, and how heavy his body was getting. He ignored how his face slipped easily into a tired expression.
“...Oh.” Another awkward silence, before Techno finally huffed, and moved over to the younger teen on the floor.
“Okay, you should be warm enough, now get out of my house.” The pink-haired man exclaimed, his deep monotone voice twinged with the slightest hint of annoyance. Tommy hummed, nodded. He didn’t get up. He couldn’t. Instead, he just began to speak again.
“Y’know Techie…” The blonde slurred, his eyes half-lidded. Techno froze at the nickname, startled. He hadn’t heard it in years . “I am.. really, tr’ly sorry. I was stupid, I wasn’t thinking and…” Tommy’s head hung low, tears forming and falling once more.
“And it ws’nt right of me ‘t betray you like that. I just..” The blonde trailed off, mind growing fuzzy and forgetting what he was trying to say. Techno frowned, his expression growing slightly worried. Tommy was never like this, he never apologized, never admitted he was wrong and was never so… quiet.
“Tommy? Tommy, hey!” The hybrid moved, grabbing the blonde’s arm and pulling him up off the floor. Tommy let himself be dragged up, one leg hanging uselessly next to the other. They were both technically useless, since no warmth spread through his body, and so he was still cold and numb. Techno could feel it, he could feel how cold the blonde was.
“Tommy, what’s wrong with you?”
“Mate, we’re back! We’ve gotten a bunch more shit- Tommy? What are you doing here?” The familiar accent caused Tommy to blink, and turn his head towards his father, the winged man staring at him with an unreadable expression.
“Hi dad…. ‘m really sorry… that I couldn’t be better.” Tommy spotted Ranboo behind Phil, looking nervous. The hybrid’s tail swished back and forth uncertainly. Phil, however, made eye contact with Techno, and adopted the same worried expression his eldest son had on. Techno grabbed the teen by both shoulders, trying to shake Tommy out of the fog he seemed to be fading into. His eyes were clouding over with a grey film, and his breathing was getting considerably more erratic. He was crying.
“‘M sorry, that I was such a shit son. ‘That I was ‘nnoyin and rude…” Tommy sobbed, and Phil rushed over to help catch him as his working leg buckled underneath him, the three crumpling to the floor. Techno cursed under his breath, the voices in his head screaming with worry. His eyes scanned Tommy’s figure, lifting his sweater and cloak slightly to see the large wound on his side. It was bubbling and bleeding, swollen and infected. One could tell that Tommy had tried to stitch it up himself, but the stitches had snapped on the way here. It looked like a stab wound, coated with a slow-acting poison, considering that Tommy managed to make it all the way here. Techno also lifted the blonde’s left pants leg, seeing the limb black and bloodied with the familiar signs of frostbite. Tommy would have had to get an amputation, if he even lived that long. And from the sight in Techno’s arms, he didn’t have much longer left.
“Tommy, Tommy come on, speak to us mate!” Phil exclaimed, tears pooling in his eyes as the dawning realization that he was going to have another son die in his arms. Techno looked up from the wounds, red eyes shining with tears.
“Tommy, why didn’t you tell me sooner? I-I could’ve helped, or..” Tommy shook his head, hand reaching to weakly grab at his elder brother’s cloak.
“No.. ‘m deserved this… I just.. wanted to see you guys again.” The blonde blinked, his eyes closing for one second too long. Phil shook him slightly, watching with despair as his youngest’s eyes opened slowly, as slowly as his chest was rising and falling.
“..had no one left.. but Sammy. Tubbo hangs out with Ranboo, ‘n Jack now.. you guys live out ‘ere. No one.. cares ‘bout Tommy anym’re.” Tommy felt tired, so tired as his words slurred together. But he tried to get them out, tried to tell his family what he needed before he went to sleep. He already knew on his way here that his wounds would be too bad for his family to reasonably help him in time.
But ultimately.. if he wanted help, he would have gone to Tubbo. But Tubbo was never in one place in Snowchester; and Tommy figured he might as well go see the faces of his family one last time, even if they hated him, instead of dying alone somewhere on the edge of his best friend’s land. Tommy didn’t want help, he just wanted peace. “Jack.. ‘n Niki saw me.. ‘n stabbed me. And it’s okay .. ‘cuz I deserved it. ‘Cuz I’ve been awful. An’ I just wanted to… to tell you guys that, even if… if you hate me, I still love you.”
Saying all this was exhausting, and it was taking a lot out of Tommy, but he knew he had to. It was getting harder to breathe, he supposed it was from all the talking, and from how cold he was. Maybe it was because he was crying. Crying was exhausting too, and Tommy just felt tired, so tired.. he wanted to take a nap, to be warm next to Techno and Phil. Maybe they’d let him take a nap for a bit, just a little bit. Even if they hadn’t been a family in so long, strangely, Tommy felt like he was home. That made a warm feeling bloom in his chest at the thought, even as he felt the rest of his body growing ever colder.
He hadn’t realized he’d closed his eyes already, too tired to keep them open. Techno choked back a sob, watching as his youngest brother was visibly fading. He reached up to run his fingers through the blonde’s hair, the melted snow matting it to his forehead. Phil sniffled, leaning forwards to press a gentle kiss to the teen’s temple.
“We.. we love you too, mate. We love you, so , so much.” Tommy’s eyes fluttered, but they didn’t open. His grip on Techno’s cape was weakening, but he managed to give it a gentle tug.
“...’m so sleepy, dad, Techie… ‘m so tired.. can I sleep here for a bit? Just.. a little bit…” Techno gave a shaky breath, putting a gentle smile on his face, even if Tommy couldn’t see it. Even if he was fading.
“Of course, Toms. Sleep all you want, we’ll be here for you when you wake up. I promise.” The faintest of smiles crossed the teen’s face, before his hand released Techno’s cape, and dropped to the floor. The voices in the hybrid’s head were screaming with despair, and demanding blood from Jack Manifold and Nihachu. As Tommy took his last breath, dying in the arms of his family, he was smiling.
And Phil and Techno screamed.