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The first time they meet again, it’s after a rather long battle.
Pure Vanilla is all but exhausted. He had used the last of his energy to heal the comrades who’s dough had began to crumble. His healing magic is like a warm and radiant light for those who seek refuge from any pain. Just as he always does, he saves himself as the last one to receive that very healing.
However, by the time he’s ready to heal his own dough, he’s ready to nearly collapse under the weight of his own body. He offers a reassuring smile and kind words to those who express their concern, telling them that he’ll catch up with them in a little while — to please, head back to their camp without him.
Once their backs are turned, he finds himself leaning against a nearby tree, smile no longer reaching his eyes as he allows himself to finally, finally rest.
“… Yes. I’ll catch up in a little while.” He says the words quietly, placing his staff on his lap.
He could finally rest knowing that Earthbread was safe.
He closes his eyes, face tilting upwards towards the sky as he admires the feeling of wind blowing through his haircing. Without realizing who he’s thinking of, he speaks.
“I wonder what she would say, if she were here. Would she scold me for pushing myself? No, she would have done the same, if not more.”
He almost places his staff on the ground then, preparing to push himself upwards to begin making his way to the others, but something catches the corner of his eyes. He turns his head just enough—
— To take notice of a single, small vanilla orchid. It looks as though it’s only just started to bloom, he notes.
His breath catches in his throat as he reaches, fingers brushing against the petals in a gentle manner. How odd. There were no other vanilla orchids in the entirety of what had just been a battlefield.
His smile, tired and bittersweet begins to waver. He does not dare blink, if only to hold back any tears that threatened to fall.
He would not cry. Not in front of her. He would not burden her.
“Thank you.” He says gently. “For watching over us.”
The second time they meet again, it’s several hundreds of years later.
It happens one, sunny afternoon. Earthbread has seen peace for a long time. Today, Pure Vanilla was visiting the Hollyberry Kingdom.
It wasn’t a rarity that the five heroes would visit one another in their respective homes, but today was special. Today was yet another year that the Grandberry Festival would take place.
Pure Vanilla had been the one to ask Hollyberry if she wanted to take a stroll. The Hollyberry Jungle was one that could be rather dangerous, but he felt safe so long that Hollyberry at his side.
The both of them chat with one another, Pure Vanilla’s feeling light — his heart full of joy. It was times like this, times when he saw so many cookies celebrate a joyous event that he was reminded why he had fought so hard, for so long.
The sight of smiling cookies made his chest swell, and he knew that any hardships had long been worth it.
It’s only when he feels the gaze of another that he stops in his steps. It’s heated, he thinks — as though those eyes had been lingering on him for some time.
He slowly turns towards the source of that feeling, multi-colored eyes opening to meet with animal-like ones. A butter tiger had been staring at him for perhaps a while now. However, it did not move from where it was, nor did make any movements to attack. No, for the first time upon encountering the creature—
He did not feel any threat from a butter tiger.
No, there was a gentleness to that gaze, a familiarity and bittersweet longing that felt like home.
“Pure Vanilla Cookie?”
“… Ah, apologies, my friend! I thought I saw something familiar.”
Someone important.
Someone precious.
The third time that they meet, it’s during a battle.
It’s a long battle that had taken place in the Dark Cacao Kingdom. It was the warrior king himself who had requested the aid of Golden Cheese and the others. And though he did not wish to burden his friends, Pure Vanilla understood. More than that, he was happy and proud that he had reached out for help.
He knows first hand just how difficult it can be to reach out to others.
It only makes him all the more determined to provide aid when he can. He sets up barriers to protect others, heals others who are injured, and ushers those who can no longer fight to safety.
The fight had been merciless. The monsters that had emerged from the licorice sea had been numerous. It was something that he wished to investigate at a later time. He— couldn’t help but feel as though it may be a precursor towards something far more deadly.
He stays by Dark Cacao’s side, protecting the kingdom’s leader as much as he can.
He barely catches the sight of one of the many licorice monsters heading straight for a number of soldiers. As though on instinct, his feet begin to carry him forward as quickly as he can manage.
“Hold on! I’ve got you!”
He creates a barrier then, shielding the soldiers as much as possible — mouth pressing together into a thing line when the monsters ram into the barrier, determined to destroy it.
The movements happen again and again, and it almost seems as though his barrier is all but destroyed —
But then, he hears it.
He hears what sounds like a distant roar — far more loud than anything he had ever heard before. It echoes through the dark, snow-filled skies.
And then —
There was silence.
How strange, he thinks. What was once a battle where everyone had all but lost hope for it ending anytime soon had suddenly came to a stop. The licorice monsters looked onto the soldiers — to Pure Vanilla and Dark Cacao before beginning to turn and leave.
Pure Vanilla sees it then.
There’s a licorice monster, far larger than the others that’s still half-submerged in the dark sea. Even at a distance, he can see the look in its eyes. There’s a softness, fond and yet apologetic.
And just as it had the last two times that they had met — his heart sinks into his stomach, constricting painfully before it swells.
“Thank you.” He whispers. “… For protecting us.”
The last time that they meet, Pure Vanilla has lived for a long, long time.
Even in his long lifetime, he had never forgotten the times that they had met. They’re buried deep within his memories. He would never want to be without them, and yet — he knows that even if there was a chance that he did wish to forget her, he never could.
Her presence was simply a part of him — in the flowers that would grow beneath his feet, to the gentle way the wind blew through his haircings, to the warm way the sunrise that greeted each and every day.
She simply was, and always would be.
Today he’s made his way into the Vanilla Kingdom’s marketplace. He hasn’t been a king in a long time, and yet it has flourished even years after it had been rebuilt. The villagers who he had tended to as Healer had long since crumbled, but they were still beloved to him all the same.
He’s looking over the wares of those who had settled into the plaza for the day, greeting them cheerfully. He’s as beloved as he’s always been, even if he feels that it’s undeserved.
“Excuse me.”
The soft voice that greets him is enough to make his heart stop.
Slowly, he turns. His entire body feels heavy, and it feels as though his very soul had left his body.
“I—” The eyes that meet with his are so familiar, and yet — there was nothing familiar about this cookie. Even so, he knows that voice — he knows those eyes.
He belatedly realizes that he’s staring. Even after knowing so, he struggles to speak, knot caught in his throat.
“… M… My apologies. How may I help you?”
The young adult cookie tilts her head, her basket full of flowers (white lilies, of all things) held lovingly in her arms.
A mortal, he thinks. He’s so happy for her. This is what she’s wanted.
“Have we— met before?”
He bites his lower lip, mind racing as he searches for the right words to respond with. And slowly, he speaks. His voice wavers, but there’s a fondness to his voice all the same.
“That… is a very long story.”