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“The day will come when I prove to myself that I am good enough for you,” Madeleine had declared, that afternoon after Dark Enchantress’s attack on the Creme Republic. “Will you wait for me until then, my darling Espresso?”
“I suppose I have nothing better to do…” Espresso had replied nonchalantly and a coy aversion of his eye. But he glanced back at Madeleine with a mischievous glint in his eye. I would.
How long does someone wait before they decide it’s time to move on?
When Madeleine set off on this soul searching journey of his, he hadn’t expected it to take so long. A few months, maybe at most a year. Two, if he particularly enjoyed himself or discovered another budding kingdom. Not… Had it already been seven years?
Madeleine stared into the endless night sky of the long-abandoned City of Wizards. He didn’t know when he’d lost track of time, or when the years lost their weight. He’d explored cities and communities he’d merely spared a cursory glance at when he was still doing expeditions for the Cookie Kingdom.
To were lands far more advanced than the Republic, with advancements far surpassing the magitech of his homeland achieved without the help of magic at all. Feats that coaxed reactions out of Madeleine as if he’d come across a legendary spirit. Grandiose music festivals, bustling metropolitans, tribes in luscious forests no one had ever bothered to check.
Cookies who never heard of the Ancient Heroes, cookies who weren’t burdened by the weight of Dark Enchantress Cookie and instead valiantly protected their homes against foes of their own. Madeleine had never thought that he’d see a dragon in real life despite the Hollyberry Kingdom having suffered under one’s tyranny for many years. He never imagined a world where he’d be faced with thieves that announced their presence instead of hiding it, didn’t think that there would come a day when the monster he’d be fighting was someone’s one stray creation. Nor had he ever anticipated that there’d be an instance where time could be altered and the consequences come back to hurt you before you’d even done them.
(It hadn’t happened to him, but it was quite the experience to witness it happen to Croissant Cookie and have her be delighted in such a disaster.)
All tales only told in storybooks, all stories only thought to be of the most absurd of fiction.
Madeleine could see why cookies would dedicate their lives to this. Not him, though. He had things he needed to get back to.
The City of Wizards was a stop he’d made on the off-chance he’d encounter a Cookie Kingdom balloon with hopes of catching a ride back. He’d heard that Gingerbrave and his gang had passed by here a few years back. He wondered what they’d found here. Madeleine had no doubt that they had grown to be strong, amazing cookies.
He supposed that… he’d grown up too, didn’t he?
Of course, that was the purpose of his expedition, to grow into a better cookie, to become truly worthy of his title as Knight Commander. He may have not stepped foot in the Republic for years, but he’d sent letters of his travels and spoils from his battles. Was that enough for him to still call himself by that title? Even so, he’d found that it didn't matter to him as much as it had when he had set off. Was that a sign of growth, or detachment from his roots?
He was still Madeleine Cookie of House Madeleine, he was still a paladin, protector of those in need, but his favorite food had changed. He wore his hair differently and polished his weapons with different materials. He’d modified his sword to better suit his battles and repaired his shield in ways that honored the damage caused to it. He wore new clothes that he’d found were more comfortable under his armor, and when he’d been handed a Magic Candy for the first time– the one made my those who hadn’t a twinkle of an idea of what Soul Jam was, he abandoned the old suit for something more light and agile that worked amazingly in tune with his newly acquired magic candy while still providing the same protection of his old armor.
He’d been sent a Magic Candy from the Vanilla Kingdom after that particular story had found its way back to the Republic.
Madeleine realised that he started taking his coffee differently.
Madeleine had changed so much… had Espresso?
Once upon a time, he would have still been confident that his love would be waiting for him upon his return, but that time was far bygone. Like how Madeleine outgrew his old self, he had no shadow of a doubt that Espresso would have drastically changed as well. Maybe he didn’t take his coffee differently and maybe he didn’t change the cut of the suit he always wore, but his scope of research was no doubt new– something Madeleine would understand less with having missed seven years ( When had it gotten so, so long?) of discovery. He would have met new people and found cookies who would not only respect his research, but help him expound on it. Maybe at this point, he was a living legend among the kingdoms. One day, his works would make their way to the lands Madeleine travelled, and they would praise him in the same sentence they would Aloe Cookie and Croissant Cookie.
Would Madeleine be there for… any of that?
Perhaps… Espresso Cookie had found something better to do. Right… Madeleine would have to still be the same self-absorbed buffoon of a knight to be secure in thinking otherwise.
“Madeleine Cookie, have you seen?”
He turned around, just in time to see GingerBright grip onto the long tails of his scarf and start pulling him for his attention. “Sugar Glass Cookie’s old greenhouse is here! And the flower she told us about is gone!!”
“My word, that must mean that Moonlight Cookie had received her message, does it not?”
The young cookie nodded vigorously. “Hurry, we need to go see where it went.”
“Wait, what about the Cookie Kingdom balloon? What if we miss it?” Hero Cookie asked as GingerBright dragged Madeleine past him and Zombie Cookie.
“Not if we hurry! Come on, aren’t you curious?”
“Well… If Madeleine Cookie doesn’t mind…”
Madeleine laughed. “Fret not, dear friend. For this is but another adventure to tell upon my return!”
Zombie Cookie groaned animatedly. GingerBright gasped. “Oh no! Don’t you have a partner to get back to? You’re right, Zombie Cookie, we have to hurry–”
“Now, now,” Madeleine sighed in amusement, placing a hand on GingerBright’s head. “We need not rush. It is unlikely that the Cookie Kingdom would still be exploring this city after all these years. We’ll have better luck exploring the city until the sunrise, then the Dream Train takes its stop at the station.”
Hero Cookie, “Are you sure? We wouldn’t want to keep you.”
“Nonsense! You are a capable bunch. If I was truly in a hurry, I would have left you ages ago. Now, let’s try to find Sugar Glass Cookie’s message. The longer we stand here, the less time we have to uncover such a treasure!”
“R-Right! Let’s go, everyone! Before the train gets here,” GingerBright cheered.
She turned around and resolutely ran her way back deeper into the city. What a spritely cookie, like a second coming of GingerBrave, if Madeleine were to say so himself.
He supposed that some things wouldn’t change after all.
“Espresso Cookie? You’re… not working?”
Strawberry Crepe Cookie peeked over Espresso’s shoulder. His desk was neat, and the papers in front of him weren’t researches or experiments. In their place, there was a gelatin sheet binder thick with letters he’d received over the years. From who, Strawberry Crepe could take a pretty good guess.
“Not tonight, my dear. I have some catching up to do.”
“...are you even sure he’s coming back?” Seriously, dragons, spirits, fashion shows??? What was that knight up to? Why would Espresso bother with him anymore? “It’s been forever . He didn’t even show up to Dark Enchantress’s beat down!”
“That may be so, but he’s nothing if not a cookie of his word,” Espresso replied softly. Eugh , he’s only getting sappier with age. “He’ll be back, and I’ll be waiting for him. Now, you go to bed; it’s midnight.”
“I don’t need sleep!”
“Maybe if you did, you would finally grow past my waist.”
“Why, you–!!”