Chapter Text
Rue thinks that she might be having the best week of her life.
There’s a slight spring in her step as she makes her way across the Cherry Kingdom bridge, the light, floaty feeling in her chest still lingering from her day out with Kittrix.
Kittrix, her friend. A giddy grin spreads across her face at the thought.
Rue has friends!
When she’d first figured out that she wasn’t “Ruby”, Rue had been scared.
Apologising to people had felt like the best course of action– it didn’t seem fair to let everyone believe she was someone she wasn’t, and it definitely wouldn’t be fair to this “Ruby” person if they got blamed for everything that Rue had done. But the thought of telling people was terrifying. Rue hadn’t even considered that making her own friends could be an option. She’d been too worried about what would happen to her when Ruby’s friends realised she’d been lying to them.
The other Kingdoms would obviously be mad, but how mad? Would they hate her? Would they blame her for Ruby’s disappearance? Would they cast her out? If they did, where would she go?
(Milkman had killed his clone. Would Ruby kill her if they ever came back?)
Rue had been terrified.
But she needed to tell people the truth. She owed them that much at least.
And, despite everything, no one had seemed to care. At least, not in the way she thought they would.
— — —
Marmalade, somehow, had already known.
“Oh my gosh. You’re the other one.”
Apparently Avid had shown Marmalade the tubes
(Rue doesn’t really believe that there’s a reason beyond Avid just not being a good person, but she wants to avoid arguing about that if she can help it).
Once Marmalade had connected the dots, once she had understood what Rue is– an attempt at a copy, a cheap replacement, created only to serve a higher power, a higher power that Mangrove Kingdom is known to despise, something that has only caused trouble– she hadn’t yelled. She hadn't shown any sign of disgust, or anger.
Marmalade’s immediate concern had been if Rue was okay.
It had taken Rue off guard how nice Marm was.
“So you know the Ruby person?”
“I do, yeah, Ruby’s my friend.”
“Are they a nice person?”
“Yeah. Of course! Why would they be my friend if they weren’t?”
“...would you rather have them here than me?”
“Can’t we have both of you here?”
Marm had just... accepted them. Accepted Rue as her friend. Like forgiving them was the easiest thing in the world.
Avid had always framed the Void Witches of the Mangrove Kingdom as something to fear, as OSSHA’s enemies, people who rejected even the basic idea of safety, who worshipped the Void and all of the dark, horrible things that came with it.
But Marmalade was kind.
They’d built a flower shop together. Even though the plan had been to make it with Ruby, Marm seemed to have no issue with making it with Rue instead. It was really fun, being able to build and talk and joke freely with a person who wasn’t a member of OSSHA. It was nice, to not have to pretend to be someone they weren’t.
When the shop was finished, Marm had been grinning as she waved goodbye, making Rue promise to keep in touch, and to come visit the Mangrove Kingdom again soon.
Rue’s heart had felt a little lighter.
— — —
But Marmalade was just one person.
She may have forgiven Rue, but she also knew everything that Avid had been doing, and had therefore been able to understand both sides of the story– information that Rue’s pretty sure the rest of the server has been kept more or less in the dark on.
Rue wouldn’t be surprised if no one else showed them that same kindness. (They don’t really feel like they deserve it anyway).
“Gotcha. Well, is there a different name you’d prefer?”
And then Leon had accepted them too
He’d been a little confused– he obviously didn’t have the context as to why there was suddenly someone else running around with his friend’s face– but he was just... okay with it. He willingly accepted Rue as his friend, despite everything they’d done.
He’d even offered to threaten Avid with an axe for them!
Rue was pretty sure that he’d been joking, but something in Leon’s eyes told them that the intention behind the joke had been genuine.
While Rue personally wants nothing to do with Avid ever again, they can’t deny that Avid’s friends with a decent amount of people on the server. He’s Leon’s friend. And yet Leon was willing to stand up to him. For Rue, who he’d known for all of ten minutes, but had decided for some reason that they were worth defending.
It... it had meant a lot. It was nice knowing that they had someone so firmly on their side.
— — —
Talking to Anathra was easy.
Rue had gone over to Spruce Kingdom to properly apologise to Anathra in person, only for him to greet them with a warm smile; using their chosen name so naturally that it had caught them off guard.
He acted like he already considered Rue a friend, and not someone who’d been a jerk to him a few weeks prior. When they had apologised, he had forgiven them without hesitation, and then apologised to Rue for the Pig Incident.
They had found themselves instantly relaxing in Anathra’s presence, falling into casual conversation like they’d known each other for years.
He just seemed to understand, no questions asked.
— — —
Viking was... weird. Like really weird. Like has-some-kind-of-random-memory-issues-and-super-scattered-behaviour weird. Rue’s fairly certain that Ruby’s disappearance and their own spooking of him were the least of his worries when they went over to Dark Oak. He had acted more nervous than Rue had felt, eyes darting around and hands restlessly fidgeting throughout the entire conversation.
But he too forgave them pretty easily, despite looking seconds away from a nervous breakdown of some kind.
...
Rue should go and visit again soon. Make sure that he’s doing okay.
— — —
Kittrix was fun.
She had run into them near the shopping district, and had greeted Rue with a large grin and a fist bump. After a slightly awkward moment where it became clear that Kit hadn’t seen the sign that Rue had left for her, meaning that they had to properly introduce themself and explain everything on the spot, Kit had smiled, nodded, and then immediately asked Rue for ice cream flavour recommendations.
When Rue had apologised, Kittrix had admitted that she’d been confused and a little hurt by their behaviour, but she hadn't been mad. She'd been super encouraging of Rue’s decision to try and make amends.
They’d ended up spending the day together, eating their ice creams as they walked around the shopping district, Rue learning her way around and Kit checking out a bunch of the new shops.
Rue had gotten to show off her and Marmalade’s flower shop (incorrectly claiming to sell “ROME” according to the banners) and she and Kit had ended up in hysterics over some of the other mixed up signs on the shops.
They eventually ended up in a clothes shop, and while Rue hasn’t been able to find a permanent new outfit yet, the little fashion show they did with Kit was so fun. They’d both taken it in turns trying on the coolest things they could find, and when Rue had taken a massive pile of possible new looks into the changing room, Kit had loudly hyped up each one, like it was her personal mission to make Rue feel good about herself.
For once, Rue had actually felt alive.
— — —
She’s brought out of her thoughts when she realises that she’s arrived at the entrance to Cherry Kingdom. They pause, nerves sparking to life in their gut and making their heart flutter anxiously. At the other end of the island, they can see the pink hair of their– Ruby’s– the other half of Cherry Kingdom, tucking her elytra away as she touches down on the landing strip.
Rue gets the sudden urge to just turn back around and walk away.
They give themselves a little shake. No. Vintage deserves to know.
“I have faith that everybody else will be just as understanding as I’ve been here.”
Rue hadn’t believed Leon at first, but so far he hasn’t been proven wrong.
No one had held any grudge over what Rue had done at all. Marmalade said that if Rue was only doing what they thought was right, then they hadn’t done anything wrong. Anathra had already considered her a friend. Kittrix had been nothing but supportive. Viking... to be fair, he didn’t even seem to remember what Rue had even done, but he accepted her pretty quickly. Leon didn’t think that she needed to apologise at all.
They all understood. They all forgave her. And Vintage is the nicest person on the server. Five minutes ago, Rue was excited to tell her.
But...
Ruby had been Vintage’s island partner. Not Rue. Vintage didn’t even know that Ruby was missing. If anyone was going to hate her it was Vintage.
But she deserves to know, Rue reminds herself firmly.
She takes a deep breath, and then forces her feet to move.
Here goes nothing.