Chapter Text
Long Time Waiting - Part 1
“Do you need a wee too, Bluey?”
“No, but… can I come anyway?”
“The more, the merrier.”
Bluey was feeling quite down. She found a new friend, who she clicked with so easily. She didn’t understand a word he said. Apparently he spoke another language called French. It sounded weird, but also nice.
She was excited to play with him again. She only knew him for three days, but she felt like she knew him for longer than that. Even despite not understanding him, she had so much fun.
And just like that, he was gone. They probably had to go back to wherever they came from. Considering French isn’t spoken in Australia, she assumed they weren’t in the country anymore.
“Mum?”
“Yeah?”
“…why did Jean-Luc have to go?”
“Their holiday was over, honey.”
“But I want to keep playing with him… he was my friend…”
“Well, look…” Chilli looked at Bluey with a comforting smile. “Sometimes special people come into our lives, stay for a bit, and then they have to go.”
That didn’t help her at all. “But that’s sad.”
Chilli couldn’t help but agree. “It is. But the bit where they were here was happy, right?”
Bluey finally smiled at that. “Yeah. We caught a wild pig together.”
The red heeler giggled at that. Kids and their imaginations. “Maybe that makes it all worth it.”
“…will I ever see him again?”
“Well, you never know. The world’s a magical place.”
Chilli then turned off the bunny light, exposing the beautiful night sky.
“Whoa…” The young blue heeler was in awe.
“Finished.” Bingo then saw the stars, and she was in just as much awe. “Oooh, stars… pretty!”
They stayed there for a few minutes, watching the night sky. Bingo then let out a yawn, followed by Bluey, then Chilli.
“I’m tired…” Bingo muttered.
“Come on, honey.” Chilli scooped up her younger daughter. “Let’s get you back to bed.”
She started walking towards the tent, when she noticed Bluey still watching the stars. “Bluey? Are you coming, sweetheart?”
“…c-can I stay here a little longer?”
“Sure. Just not too long, okay?”
“Okay, mum.”
Bluey was then left alone to her thoughts. They drifted back to Jean-Luc, which made tears form in her eyes again. Still, her mother was right. The part where he was here was happy.
And who knows? Maybe one day, they will see each other again.
“Good night, Jean-Luc. I hope I’ll see you again someday.”
Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Months turned into years.
For a while, Bluey and her family had returned to the same camping spot, every year. She had hoped she’ll see Jean-Luc there again. But every time they returned, no one was there.
It hurt Bluey a bit, but she focused on the happy bit, and it brought back a smile to her face. She wasn’t sure what drew her to the labrador so much. Questions still left unanswered ever since the day they first met at the camping site. Still, Bluey hoped that she’ll see him again one day. Until then, she can survive.
At the campsite, Bluey could see that the seed she and Jean-Luc planted back then had grown into such a beautiful tree over the years.
In a way, it was kind of metaphorical. Bluey felt she changed so much over the years. Gone were the days of innocence, and in came the days where she had a lot to worry about. Bluey wasn’t one to crumble under pressure however, so even when she had assignments piled up, one after the other, she was able to keep a leveled head and deal with all the stress.
Her parents had commended her on that in the past. Yeah. She’s changed. And she liked the person she became.
Bluey’s attention on the tree was broken by snapping fingers.
“Earth to Bluey, what’s up?” Bingo asked, walking up to Bluey.
“All good, mate. Just thinking.”
Bingo’s cheeky smile turned into a kind of sad smile. “Still thinking you’ll see him, huh?”
Bluey shrugged. “A small part of me still hopes. I might as well accept I won’t see him ever again, though.”
“I’m sorry, Bluey.”
She simply shrugged again. “No worries.”
That hoping part of her didn’t fade, though. Before Bluey could get back to her thoughts, she heard another voice from behind her.
“Hey guys, what’s going on?”
Socks came from the RV towards her cousins. She probably needed a little time away from Muffin.
“Just getting deep into thought, why?”
Socks then looked exasperated. “Muffin wants to play Mario Party.”
Both Bluey and Bingo groaned. It often didn’t end well when Muffin wanted to play video games. Still, she hadn’t been raging as much lately…
“At this point, I should be the only one who plays, because according to her, I don’t tryhard…” Bluey muttered to herself. Unfortunately for her, both Heeler girls took that statement seriously.
“Alright, go ahead then Bluey, have fun.” Bingo said. In an attempt to save face, Bluey turned to Socks.
“Actually Socks, do you want to play with her instead of me?”
“Haha, no! I’d rather hang myself by the tail.”
The third shared giggles at the youngest Heeler’s bold statement.
“Well Bluey, enjoy being constantly told what to do, being belittled for everything, having to consistently listen to her complain, then finding yourself talking less and less and wondering if it was even a good idea to play.”
“Yeah, that checks out.” Bluey answered.
“Socks, I’m not exaggerating when I’m saying, you literally just described the last time I played with Muffin, down to the last detail.”
Socks could only smile sheepishly at Bingo. “I know. It happened to me too.”
“It’s like a rite of passage at this point…” Socks and Bingo looked at Bluey. “Like, everybody has to play video games with Muffin and watch her break a controller or two.”
“Yep, that’s my sister.”
“Guys?! You coming to play or not?!”
Muffin’s voice made Bluey, Bingo and Socks simultaneously sigh in exasperation.
“No getting out of it, then. Come on, let’s get it over with…”
While there were moments of annoyance from Muffin’s end, the session this time around wasn’t as bad as the Heeler girls were expecting.
Muffin ended up getting second place, but she didn’t throw a hissy fit. Still, Bluey felt like she needed a break. It was then she saw Muffin had brought along a book with her, some kind of adventure genre. Bluey couldn’t resist a good book.
“Hey Socks, can I borrow that book? I wanna read it.” Bluey asked her cousin.
Socks looked a little unsure. “Uh, it’s not my book, Bluey. It’s Muffin’s.”
“I’m sure she won’t mind if I borrow it, right?”
Socks and Bingo then saw where she was going with this.
“Oooh, I get it. It’s your way of telling Muffin we need a break.” Bingo commented, to which Bluey sent her finger guns.
“By all means.” Socks gestured to the book, which Bluey took, and walked over to the nearby creek. Near said creek, the tree that was planted around a decade ago was looking absolutely stunning.
“Bluey! That book’s mine!”
Bluey rolled her eyes at Muffin’s voice. “I know it’s yours, Muffin! I’m just borrowing it!”
She then sat down and got to reading.
“Hello, Bluey!”
Bluey froze. No way. That voice. It couldn’t be.
She turned her head to the source… and there he was.
It was Jean-Luc. He stood there, waving at her, his tail wagging. Right away, hers began wagging as well.
“…Jean-Luc?”
She put the book down, and he nodded as his grin grew wider.
“ Oh my god, Jean-Luc! ”
She lost all control and sprinted towards him, tackling him in a tight hug. He wasn’t expecting the impact, and they both fell down as they collided, getting a little muddy. Still, they were both laughing out of their minds. It felt like they were kids again.
“It’s so great to see you again!”
“C’est un plaisir de vous revoir!”
Both dogs talked over each other, and they broke the hug to look at each other, surprised. Bluey felt her heart beat faster, but whether it was over the fact that he spoke perfect English or that she was on top of him, she didn’t know.
“Tu parles français?”
“You know English?”
They talked over each other again, to which both of them laughed again.
“Yes, I do!” Jean-Luc began. “I, er… learned it over the years. I… speak and understand a fair amount.”
“Tha-that’s amazing!” Bluey cursed herself for stuttering. “Uhh, j'ai appris le français… autant que possible… mais je ne le parle… pas encore très bien.” Bluey cursed herself again, this time for speaking so slowly.
“Absurdité! You speak very well!” Jean-Luc commended Bluey.
“Well, you speak English a lot better than I do…” Bluey replied, bashfully.
The labrador couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. “Thank you, Bluey.” Bluey liked hearing him laugh. “But it’s like I said, you speak great as well!”
“Jean-Luc!”
“Oh, those are my parents.” Jean-Luc said. He then gasped a little. “I just realized! You never got to meet them! Do you want to come meet them now?”
“I-I-I…” Bluey felt a little flabbergasted. “S-Sure!”
This was all going a little too fast for the teenage blue heeler.
She wanted a break from playing video games with Muffin, now she’s seeing her childhood friend again, and now she’s meeting his parents? Bluey had no idea how she got into this scenario.
She also had no idea why her heart was beating so quickly while Jean-Luc and her ran to his parents, holding hands.
Nope. No clue.
“Maman, Papa! Je suis là!”
Bluey then saw two other labradors approach from the campsite the family had. The hat and the glasses were the first things she noticed. She also noticed how their faces lit up the moment they saw her.
“Qui tu as ici, mon fils?” Jean-Luc’s dad asked. Bluey could somewhat understand what they were saying. Something about asking who is with him.
“C'est celle dont je t'ai parlé il y a des années!” Now they were talking about her. She then noticed they were still holding hands.
“Oh! Bluey, c'est ça?” His parents’ eyes both lit up and they looked at her. She began to feel a little shy.
Still, she had to respond. “Oui, j-je suis Bluey! Bonjour!” Why was she still stuttering?!
“C'est un plaisir de te rencontrer enfin! Jean-Luc a beaucoup parlé de toi!” Jean-Luc’s mother replied. She often still had difficulty understanding French, but from what she could understand, Jean-Luc talked about her often. She looked at the labrador, who was starting to look bashful.
“You talked about me?”
“I… had a lot of fun that day. It was hard not to.” Bluey felt her heart melt a little at the smile he had.
“Bluey, veux-tu te joindre à nous pour un café?”
Bluey felt a bit put on the spot from Jean-Luc’s dad. She would love to. But she doesn’t really drink coffee. Still, how could she say no?
“J-J’aimeris beaucoup!”
“Bluey! Where are you?”
Before she could even think about joining the Labradors, she heard her mom calling for her.
“Oh, th-that’s my mum…”
“Te maman?”
“Oui, je pense que c'est l'heure du déjeuner…” Why did Bluey feel so suddenly saddened? It’s not like she and Jean-Luc were separating.
Jean-Luc then got an idea. “Oh! Maman! Peut-on inviter Bluey et sa famille à déjeuner?”
His parents both smiled at him. “Elle devrait demander à sa famille, chéri.” His mother replied. Bluey really had to get the names of his parents. She snapped out of her thoughts when he looked at her. That pleading look would be burned into her memory forever.
“Did you get that?”
“I-I’ll go ask my family, I’ll be right back!”