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A letter waits on the steps of Eret's castle. She almost doesn't see it, preoccupied as she returns from a cartography expedition, but a nearby ferret runs circles around it until she notices.
The envelope is plain, save for her name written on the back. It's written in an almost-familiar script, but she can't place who it belongs to.
She can't pause much longer than she already has or she'll lose her momentum entirely and the maps will never get sorted out. So she tucks it away.
The letter stays in her pocket, nearly forgotten, until she pulls out her watch to check the time. Suddenly it hits her, and she turns the watch over. Sure enough, there's her name engraved on the back, written exactly as it was on the envelope.
Fuck it. The maps can wait.
Eret,
I just wanted to let you know I'm gonna be gone for awhile. Nothing too long, or too serious, so don't worry, beacon boy, I'll be alright—
Beacon boy. She likes that the little nicknames he gives her are all based on her achievements, or things she loves. It's a welcome change from the things everyone else calls her.
—and I'll be back before you know it.
You know what? I just realized, we haven't seen each other since the banquet. I know I said we'd figure things out after. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting all this time.
There isn't a length of time Eret wouldn't wait for him, she thinks.
Things have been awful a little rough since then, is all. I had… a hard time coming to terms with it. Went through the stages of grief, and all that, but if I'm honest, those don't feel legit. Like, I died, and you're telling me I'm only supposed to feel one thing at a time about it? Bullshit!
Mostly though, I think… I think I'm stuck on anger. Because it was my death, Eret, I'm the one that died, but everyone wants to make it about them. Why do I have to wind up comforting people about my own death? Why do I have to be strong for them about something that happened to me?
I know I chose it, and I don't regret what I did. There isn't much I wouldn't do, if it meant saving you. But if I'm honest? I didn't think I could die. I never have. That's been my thing, you know, totem of undying? Nothing that should've killed me in the past has done the job, and dying like that… It was fucking awful. I'm glad I spared you from having to experience that.
Eret doesn't have a word to say. She didn't know he was so affected by this, he'd been brushing it off the few times they'd exchanged messages over comms. Maybe it was her fault for not being there, for not trying harder to see him.
Thank you, by the way. I saw the statue you built, it was beautiful. …'Old friend', huh? I know you don't remember me.
The statue? It must've been Foolish, then, that changed the sign. She feels… guilt, almost, at the negative space in her life, even though it's out of her control. He knows things he won’t tell her, and she’s certain that information means something, but she can’t say what.
I don't know why you don't remember me, but it's alright. Whatever it is, we can work on it together, okay? When I'm not busy with Las Nevadas. What? Quackity visited me recently, and he made some good points. I've been a pushover.
She doesn't think being kind makes him a pushover, but she keeps reading.
I've been doing a lot of giving since I've been on this server, and what has it gotten me? Don't get me wrong, it’s what I love to do, and, you know, I've been paid for everything I've built for people. But… you and Ponk are the only people that have built something for me . And what do I have to show for it? My own father tore down one build— Oh, she is going to be having words with Puffy— and the other one is a commemoration of my goddamn death.
I guess I just want to see if Quackity was right. If I can become… more. I don't want to be the person I was a long time ago. That didn't do anybody any good, and won't now. But he was right, I kinda miss having power, and knowing people will listen to me. Did you know Bad has been building in my summer home? Made this tower, and named it L'sandburg.
How original.
I told him to take it down, to leave me in peace, and you know what he did? Built walls around it and tried to tax me for walking through my own home. I'm not saying I want to be this… big, powerful, scary guy, Eret, but I want to be able to defend my home without having to resort to violence, you know? If siding with Quackity will help me do that…
What could he have possibly offered?
Hopefully I can see you before I go, tell you all this myself, but if not, well. I guess that's what this letter is for.
She's always just missing him, it would seem. Her relationship with Foolish feels like a lot of almost s and could have been s and she wants something… solid. For once.
I hope it finds you well. The letter, I mean. I know we never really got the chance to catch up after… everything. Maybe you could visit Las Nevadas sometime? I'll make good on my promise, I swear.
Eret is fairly certain she's very low on the list of people Quackity would want visiting his fledgling country, both because of her past and their… personal history. But more than she doesn't want to cause a fight with him, she's dying to know what Foolish meant all those weeks ago.
If not, I guess… I'll see you when I see you? That
doesn't feel right to say, but I miss you.
Yours, Foolish.
Hers.
She supposes he is.
Eret really isn't trying to be impatient, but she is sitting by the nether portal when he steps through. She looks up, and she doesn't know why he left or where he went but he's back and all she wants to do is—
Foolish scoops her into a hug before she can even finish the thought. Her feet lift off the ground as he holds her tightly, and gods, she never wants him to stop. She clings to him just as hard, and he buries his face in her neck as he lifts her legs to hook around his waist.
“Hi,” she laughs breathlessly. Is this how he feels when she’s been off on her mapmaking trips? She's just so elated to see him again.
“Hey,” he answers against her neck. This is so far from anything she's done with him, or with anyone on the server, really, but she doesn't care. It feels right.
“Did you have a good trip?”
He laughs too. “It was alright. I'm just happy to be home.”
She understands exactly what he means when he says home, and it fills her with such joy that she ducks down and kisses his cheek.
Foolish pulls back a little bit, looking startled, and Eret opens her mouth for an apology that never comes: he laughs, loud and bright, and she feels something inside her melt.
She takes his face in both hands and peppers kisses all over his face as he giggles.
“I missed you,” she admits when she’s finally done.
He presses his forehead against hers and closes his eyes.
“I’m home now.”