Summary:
Of fun and mayhem
"Happy birthday to you." "Joyous day of life to thee." "We're happy that you've lived this long." "Happy birthday to you." "We wish you the best." "Lovin you being here is incredible." "Happy birthday dear Steven." "Oh sir, may your future be bright." "We'll party until the sun goes out." "Happy birthday to you." "Glorious day of life to Steven." "And we'll drink till the sun goes up."
"Glad to see we still haven't mastered the sync up." Moon's son snorted. It only seemed just like yesterday her husband had fished him out of that stream, but she was now, placing in front of him a giant Cookie Cat ice cream cake for his sixteenth birthday.
"Can you really blame us?" Star laughed. "With how busy our lives have been with semi-normal problems, we were lucky to get that far."
"True … gonna be honest, I half expect an eldritch abomination to come out of nowhere at this point." Steven said. "Double since we created a permanent door for them to walk through."
"Bismuth and Lapis agreed to keep watch over the rift as their own collaborative gift to you." Garnet adjusted their shades. "So far they've prevented an army of intelligent dog people in robot suits and two zombie's plagues from breaking through."
"Impressive." The boy smiled. "Well, then I guess I know my wish." Closing his eyes, he blew out the candles. "For-"
"Don't say it!" Marco cut him off. "On earth, your wish doesn't come true if you say it out loud."
"Really?" Steven looked to everyone at the peculiar tradition.
"Yep, I've done it once when I was five, and I was never able to get that limited edition Azura figurine no matter how hard I've looked or tried." Greg's step-daughter Luz whipped away a small tear. "It still haunts me to this day."
"Alright then, secret kept." He nodded. "Oh wait, Star said her birthday wish for a unicorn last year …"
"I just wish you all wouldn't try to throw my birthday party on Stump day. We do NOT need to upset that thing." She reminded them.
"I just count it as another benefit to living on earth now instead of Mewni. I don't feel the need to check the locks on my windows so often." Moon remarked with a smirk.
"Hah, well it looks like you finally made it to that sweet sixteen." Luz smiled. "So, how does it feel to technically be a young adult?"
"Like being a child, but with a longer neck." Her son chuckled as he felt his own. "Feels so weird to have one that hasn't been shapeshifted."
"Looks hot to me." Steven blushed at his Girlfriend's comment. "You know, we can finally get our drivers licenses." Kelly brought up as she gave the boy a hug. "Racing cars through the streets and everything."
"Please, if you're going to drive around like a hologan, only do so if you're in an open and empty area, and with an adult." Greg sweated a little at the forehead.
"Don't worry, I'll drive safely around town, and leave all the long traveling to Lion." Steven gestured to his pet. "Although I should probably get the hang of driving the leg ship too, if only to have a fast way to escape the Diamonds on one of their fast visits"
"And a way to visit Eclipsa … since you know, she's on the moon." Star said. "Kinda surprised she chose to stay on Mewni in all honesty."
"Globgor chose to stay, so she followed suit." River answered. "Also, she sent a present." He handed over a black box that made disturbing hissing noises inside of it.
"Either I open it and get scratched, or don't and risk whatever's inside potentially losing oxygen." Steven groaned. "Can someone take the fate of this creature's life off of my hands?"
"I've got it." Luz opened the box despite her mother's protest, pulling out a black yet docile snake with a note attached. She unfurled it and read aloud. "'For my favorite grandchild..'"
"Gee, that doesn't hurt at all." Star rolled her eyes
"'Leftover magic contained in an emergency 'darkest spell'. Aim at a catastrophic threat and say the following words, and watch your problem disappear instantly. Love, grandma Eclipsa.' Aww." Luz petted the calm creature that Moon had mixed feelings about. "It's like when Eda gave me that beaker of acid to use against angry ex's."
"Wait, you had ex's"?" Marco asked.
"No, Eda's, those guys and gals come out of the woodwork constantly."
"I'm doing my best to support your decisions, don't make me regret them." Camila warned her child, before turning to Steven. "Anyways, I know that we haven't known each other as long in comparison to everyone else, but I hope this gift of mine is just as meaningful." She handed over her own wrapped present. It wasn't letting out gasps of air, so it was already an improvement.
He unwrapped it slowly and carefully, revealing… "A snow globe?" Her son looked at it more closely. "Hey, there's a little picture of all of us in there."
"My…late husband…he had a bit of a knack for collecting them, much like how Luz here gained a knack for collecting spiders and reptiles." Laughter and nervous chucking was shared all around the table.
The boy stared at it, shaking the object a tad and watching the snow fall. "Thank you, it means a lot … mom?" He said with a bit of confused testing.
"I'm fine if that's how you want to refer to me, but no need to force yourself if you're not ready." The woman nodded understandingly.
"Good, because I've had a lot of time to contemplate what that word means to me." Steven then turned Moon. "About what family means to me. Everyone here in this room…they've all been here for me in some way when I needed it. Whether it was to keep my head level.." Kelly blushed. "..to explain something I don't understand…" Marco tried his best to cover his tears. "..to put a smile on my face.." Star was less subtle about the tears. "…or to just talk to me when I need to not be lonely." Everyone else gave a small smile.
"And you." Steven looked into her eyes. "You've been protecting and holding me ever since I could remember. I..I don't think I would be the same person I am without you in my life, so..thank you for being my mom."
"Steven …" She began crying as she squeezed the child. "I'm so glad I have you two in my life!"
"...We need … to learn … how to … live without … oxygen …" Star gasped in her arms.
"For once…I wish I was a full gem." Steven chuckled as his face began to turn blue, prompting her to let go. "I'm glad we were able to keep the party small this time around, definitely don't feel like making my birthday that big of a deal."
"Oh everyone else wanted to, but we managed to convince them to just send in their gifts." Kelly explained. "I have their stuff inside of my hair for later."
"How were you able to fix that many gifts inside is forever an enigma." Luz stated with a haunted look. "I knew it was big but … I'm pretty sure Phineas and Ferb gave us a roller coaster."
"I use conditioner before I use shampoo. Really maximizes the volume and strength." Kelly nodded as if that explained anything.
"I'll check it out later." Steven said. "Right now, let's just eat cake."
"Yeah!" Star shouted. "Sugar rush two point o!" Some parents might have discouraged their children from eating so much sugar, but after all that had happened with his children, she was just relieved they had a chance to have time to eat some.
"You did good, Moon." Pearl walked over to her and nodded her head. "You, River…I couldn't have asked you to be better."
"Thank you." Moon wiped away the tears, already having to deal with one emotional dam breaking today.
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Star looked over her own notebook. "Alright, let's try this rhyme." It was just a matter of time before some crazy situation happened, so she was trying to get her magic spells in order while making new ones. The gems were really into that fusion spell, even if she was still working out the memory kinks.
So far the results were pretty cool. Besides more rainbows and unicorns, she finally got a hold of a portal spell without the use of scissors or Starry Quartz. So that worked out inter dimensional travel without using the rift, something everyone had been stumped on.
Luckily, because as creepy as they were, the Diamond's were adamant about staying on Steven's good side, so they lent whatever tech they had to them, which they gave to Heckapoo, who now worked day and not trying to get through that 'lock' that was apparently over the whole magical dimension thing. With enough study, they might actually be able to open and close that giant rift someday.
She pulled out a tape recorder. "This is Star Butterfly, magical test number forty two, attempting to use Eclipsa's all seeing eye spell to see into the future." She'd start small, maybe ten seconds. "Okay then … Come forth all seeing eye, show to me what's beyond even the sky." Her hands began to spark as she formed a circle. "Unveil to me what hasn't been written, reveal to thee the steps not yet taken."
A portal opened up, this time a strange mix of purple and blue spiraling around one another. "Now come on, mama needs a window into what will be." And … a teen popped out. "... Really magic eye portal? That wasn't even in the rhyme!"
"Ugh, I swear Rebecca, if this is another ploy to get me to hang out with you today, you can for-" The boy, tanned skinned with light brown hair looked up at her, where large yellow lightning bolts were on his face. "-get…" The stranger looked around. "Ah…where am I?"
"Okay dude, don't freak out…but I tried to make a spell that lets me see into the future, and may have created a time travel one instead." She sheepishly admitted.
He stared at her with confusion, looking at her face with an analyzing gaze that looked so familiar, before sighing. "Yeah, that checks … I swear, at this point space time may as well be cracked if it wasn't for Time Baby taking action."
"Wait, so there's actually a baby-not the time." Star shook her head. "So, you're not surprised?"
"Not really. Back home, that barely cracks the top ten for freakiest event of the week." The boy shrugged. "Dad always taught me if an enemy can't make a black hole out of thin air, then it's a mild threat at best."
"Good words to live by." She chuckled. "I'm Star, nice to meet you kid."
"Comet." He shook her hand. "My cousin's would be more into this stuff, Rebecca geeks out about it and Ian just likes it when someone sparkles or shines, but nooooo. I try to study to skip two grades and become a doctor, and that means I'm a bore or whatever."
"Yeowch." She winced. "Hey, it could be worse. You could be trying to be a therapist." Star may have accepted them, but she would never admit they weren't evil.
"... So even back then … What about you? What are you studying for?" He asked.
"Two things actually. First expanding my spell book for the next inevitable threat.."
"..of course you are.."
"And studying to eventually get my teaching degree." Star for some reason felt the need to be honest and transparent with this guy. "If you told me four years ago I would end up loving school, I would've laughed. But the thing is, you never really stop learning, you know?"
He smiled. "Yeah, you learn something new every day …" He looked out the window. "You should never stop … cause the person you'll grow up to be is amazing."
Star blinked at that. "You know me?" She didn't think she'd end up THAT famous … pretty famous, but that was still a cool thing to learn.
"Let's just say you and your brother are pretty influential…I look up to you guys everyday…especially you." Oh corn, she hoped she wasn't this guy's celebrity crush.
Luckily that awkward train of thought was derailed by the arrival of her dad. "Star my dear, you wouldn't know where.."
Comet looked at Dad with a confused look in their eye. "Grandpa River?"
"Grandpa what now?"
The second they asked, a portal opened up, the future Bunyx leaning out and grabbing Comet. "No spoiler!" She shouted, pulling the boy back in as it shut.
Wait…Mewman boy, same name as her grandma…crap, that was totally her future son, wasn't it? Wait, if that was the case, then if he had cousin's…did that mean Steven had two kids of his own in the future!?
Looking at her dad, still flabbergasted by what occurred, she could only come up with one reasonable course of action. "... Never mention this to Mom or Steven please."
"My lips are sealed sweetie." Great, now she'd never be forced to admit she broke time again … or how she would eventually be pregnant … She needed a barrier spell for Marco.
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Mina cooked the boar, staring into the flames and watching it flicker. "Did you ever have a use for it?" She asked the gem. "Fire?" Ever since she officially annexed herself from the Butterfly family, and the Mewmans in general for that manner, there was only one place for Mina to go; the woods. Isolated from the rest of society….with one exception of course.
"Not especially." Jasper responded as she too found herself staring at the fire. "Gem's don't feel temperature in the same manner as most organics, nor did we require it to prepare sustenance. At most, it was used to demolish more of the wildlife on the more stubborn planets that we conquered."
"I could see that. I used to burn monster villages myself before they moved to less dense areas." She answered, glancing down at her bandaged hand. "It's been so long since I've remembered what it felt like to be burned …" To be cut, to feel tired, to feel hungry, to feel strain from lifting her hunt. "You know, it's strange. You don't feel much pain, but the moment a hole is in you, you're instantly down in gem form." She pointed out.
"It takes a lot of mental concentration to keep myself so durable, focusing all the energies my gem provides me to strengthen every step I take." Jasper sighed. "It requires me to feel pain more than you think. Over the years, that pain just sort of became normal for me to feel, so I just accepted it as something necessary to attain strength."
"Nothing comes without sacrifice." She said aloud. "Days spent gathering skill over and over, striving to better oneself for a cause …" Mina pulled the boar off. "And now it's starting all over … new skills for a new purpose …" Learning how to clean wild game, cooking over a wildfire, figuring out which mushrooms wouldn't give her a hallucinogenic nightmare into her own psyche. "You know, that day Solaria looked into my eyes and said she needed me, I thought it was the best day of my life, that for once, I found someone who saw my life as something worthwhile."
"I fought for thousands of years because I grew everyday, preparing to finally end Rose Quartz , thinking it would've made all the pain worthwhile…" Jasper looked off to the side. "...I'm no stranger to being used, it was the function of every gem that ever existed. But to see it all has been a lie…to see my life mattered even less to her than I realized it did…"
"It puts it all into perspective." She finished, taking a bite. "We're just dust in the wind playing to the tune of others around us … and betrayed for that trust and loyalty …" Swallowing, she extended some to Jasper. "You should learn how to taste, it'd probably make the pain slightly more bearable."
"Anything that gets my mind off the dread." Jasper groaned as she sniffed the slab of meat given to her, before taking a small but thick bite out of it, chewing for several seconds. "It's not terrible…but what do I do with it?" The big lug asked, still chewing on it. "I don't know how consumption works."
"Meh, spit it out for now, we'll work out a stomach later." Mina let out a chuckle, which quickly turned to a cough. "Damn it." The Mewman pulled out some pills, swallowing.
"You've been coughing like that for almost a year now." Jasper asked her, concerned. "I thought that medicine was supposed to make it go away."
"It's just a mild side effect with the magic drained from my body, nothing to worry about." She had to spend so much money on Apothecary Sherry. Apparently relying on magic for over a thousand years means her 'immune system' was 'behind other species'. Whatever that meant, the only thing Mina understood was that she was just mildly less healthy than most people.
"I won't worry, but I'll keep asking." The gem managed to give her a small smile. "You may be the toughest bag of meat I've met, but you're still a bag of meat."
"And you may be the most determined rock I've seen, but you're still a rock." Mina joked back, leaning against a tree with a yawn. "Alright … just gonna rest now …"
"Is this really what you want to keep doing?" Jasper asked her out of nowhere. "Living out here away from everyone else? I don't care what that organic-thing does with his life, but.."
"If there's one thing that kid said that made any sense, it was that I need to get away from everyone else." Mina gave a sigh. "I can't stand Monsters, everyone else sucks up to crazy people, and now Mewni is in another dimension …the universe left me behind as everything changed. You're the only thing I can trust to make sense Jasper."
"You're the only one I trust even if you don't make any sense." Jasper let out a light laugh. "Go get your rest. I'll keep watch like always."
"Thanks." Mina closed her eyes, letting her mind wander to the nightmares, one of the only other things she could count on making sense in this messed up universe.
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"Welcome back viewers." Starfan13 greeted the live-streamed audience. "Today we'll talk with a genuine princess!"
"It's lovely to meet you as well, citizens of earth." The woman made from honest to god bubblegum smiled. "I am more than delighted to spread knowledge of my world to the curious minds of this one."
"It's a pleasure to have you on the show." Rholnaldo nodded his head. Every since Star and her brother opened up that giant rift in the middle of the city, they've been booked practically 24/7 with interviews, enough to make it a full time job for them. Which was pretty good considering neither of them actually had the ability to work. "So tell us, how do candy people exist to begin with?"
"From my research, a magical nuclear wasteland does wonders on an ecosystem." Princess Bubblegum answered with a smile on her face. "Although for the longest while, I denied the actual existence of magic, there's just some things you have to accept after living a thousand years. Radiation led to mutations over the populace, which gradually forced everyone to become dependent on older and more arcane ways of living."
"I guess not every universe ended on top." Starfan deadpanned.
"Actually Ooo is quite peaceful. Sure they're minor criminals here and there, things of an apocalyptic scale are either really easy to win or rarely happen to begin with." The princess explained. "The embodiment of non-existence itself, the Litch, has tried to wipe away all life on numerous occasions, and each time became a little easier to deal with. Heck, Finn got some sort of regeneration liquid on him, and now he's just an almost harmless child."
"Regeneration liquid you say." Ronaldo spoke with interest. "Do you plan on multiversal distribution?"
"Well, said liquid is the blood of guardians of some of the multiverses' most dangerous criminals, so … I wouldn't count on attaining any of it as of yet." The princess laughed a bit nervously. "But I do know how to make candy grow on trees and make them even studier than steel, so I'll gladly share that knowledge to anyone willing to negotiate."
"Pretty sure the butterfly family doesn't need to know that." Starfan muttered. She had seen the sweet level intake of them, they'd die of cavities if they kept it up. "So you say you've been around for over a thousand years, which means you've personally seen how your world's changed?"
"Pretty much, I can recall things from when I was just a sentient sludge of extra stretchy bubblegum. Once I attained enough consciousness and mobility, I scoured the post-apocalyptic earth in search of clarity, and came to the realization that I needed to organize everything with an iron fist."
"So dictatorship." Ronaldo deadpanned.
"Pretty much. Although to my credit, the Candy Kingdom actually DOES need a dictator in charge or they do something completely insane and irrational, like when my family tried to overthrow me in my own house." Princess Bubblegum responded. "Though I have come to learn that spying on everyone in their homes and sabotaging potential military threats is going a touch too far."
Well this quickly became disturbing. "So, any other events you'd like to talk about?" She asked.
"Well I have been studying the rift, and am currently trying to figure out how it's managed to stay open so long when wormholes have a habit of not keeping their stability after an hour." The pink colored girl pulled out some charts. "The only logical conclusion I can come up with is that the something within, or even the infinite universe itself is somehow keeping it open, the manner and function of HOW that is completely baffles me, but it's the only theory I've come up with that hasn't split my mind in two."
"Well then, we just have to trust whatever's doing it is doing it for a good reason." Her partner shrugged. "Aright, that's all the time we have, thank you for coming onto our show Princess Bubblegum."
"I am happy to have obliged you in your valuable quest of knowledge." Princess Bubblegum bowed before taking out her ringing phone. "Hey Marcelence. What, he did WHAT!?" She closed the device. "Seems I must make my leave as well. Young Peppermint Butler opened another portal to the underworld. I knew I shouldn't have let him get into necromancy again when he regressed his age."
They watched her run out of the door, turning to each other. "It's always the sweet ones that turn out crazy."
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When Steven heard Dr. Wong tell him he was finally ready for group therapy, he wasn't sure what to expect. Sure, sharing his experiences with other people sounded good on paper, but he wasn't sure about opening up to a couple of strangers. Luckily, the group he was placed in had semi-familiar faces, as in he knew them, but didn't spend large amounts of time talking to them, mainly because the first time they all met, it was during the war on Mewni.
"This is so weird." They turned to Hunter, one of Luz's witch friends, and the most emotionally damaged from what she explained. "I heard from the Captain that therapy was just ripping out negative problems and feeding them to emotional demons."
"Nah, from what I gathered, that's how the process is for pretty much every other world excluding this one." Marcy, one of Anne's friends, who was the cause of several bad experiences for her, commented. "On Amphibia they just give you a poison dart frog's psychedelic fluids and let you go on a soul journey to discover the inner you."
"This is utterly ridiculous." Chole, the former Queen Bee, muttered from her seat with her arms crossed. "Does Ladybug trust me so little that she'd rather ship me out to another country in a room full of weirdos than work with me?"
"Well if nothing else I already have a lot to work with." Dr Wong muttered. "Now Chloe, why do you think Ladybug doesn't trust you?"
"It's … ever since we beat Gabriel … that was it." She explained. "No more Miraculous calls, no more hero stuff … the first person that needed me for me just left me behind, even when the mangy Chat Noir clearly isn't pulling his weight in a fight."
"Hey, I've worked with both Ladybug and Chat Noir just like you have, they've both worked just as hard and struggled just as much as each other." Steven pointed out. "And Ladybug's just extremely worried about the miraculous being taken again, especially with the new Hawkmoth out there."
"I know, but I've fought off an akuma attack before! Garbriel tried to goad me once, and I resisted!" Chloe blurted. "I can fight off whatever tricks this wannabe villain has up her sleeve."
"Yeah, but this one does better mind tricks than the old guy." Marcy spoke up. "Trust me, I had over five millenia of abusive manipulators uploaded into my head."
"Wow, I never knew I'd meet a girl I had so much in common with." Hunter spoke with no sarcasm whatsoever. "But yeah, I can understand that fear of not being wanted. For so long, I've had to live with the fear of either being useful or being discarded."
"Oh, you have no idea how much I know that feeling." Marcy laughed. "Sasha and Anne meant the world to me, even more than my own family, but we had almost nothing in common. I'd did my best to do everything in my power to keep everyone together, feeling like my whole reality would crumble if I didn't have them."
Chloe just stared at them, before Dr Wong spoke up again. "This type of feeling is common for those with low self worth. To feel the need to prove their own potential and work harder than they're capable of doing to impress those that they feel have more worth than others they know." She explained.
"I kinda experienced the same thing when I couldn't heal the gems while they were corrupted." Steven brought up. "My whole life I ended up looking up to my mother like a hero without even knowing it, so to constantly fail at it was a tough blow. My powers were constantly messing up back then, and the more I failed, the more useless I felt. I even began fearing everyone would eventually leave me, or worse, that the gems would just wait until I died and then 'poof', my mom would come back."
"... Why am I in the same room as these future psychopaths?" Okay, that hit really hard. No wonder Ladybug was reluctant to give the bee Miraculous to her.
"Wow, you can really feel the comradery here." Marcy snarked. "At least you're just dealing with trust issues. I still feel the phantom pains from being stabbed through the back with a plasma sword."
"That's nothing, I feel the phantom pains from injuries from the person I was cloned from decades ago."
"It's not that Ladybug doesn't trust you, it's that she's protecting you." Steven explained to the girl. Looks like the others weren't on board with empathizing with Chloe, so might as well be the mediator, as usual. "This right here, this is the level of crazy she's at right now. And with a supervillain that manipulates emotions and feelings, that's a very dangerous thing to go against."
"Yikes, sounds scary when you put it like that." Chole thought over his words for a second. "Dealing with that and Chat Noir's puns? I'm surprised she hasn't snapped from the pressure already."
"I kinda like the puns, they're clever." Hunter brought up.
"Well the thing is, there's days where she does come close." Steven continued. "I know that the life we live can be fun, and I won't deny that it's been a blast, but we struggle to have those days where we can have fun."
"Like how I thought being isekaied to another world would solve all my problems, but it just emphasized my worst qualities." Marcy added on. "Every decision we make isn't something that comes easy or on a whim. We have to be careful with the choices we make, or they can cost us dearly."
"Alright, that's enough for today." Ms Wong spoke up. "We'll meet up again next week, remember that speaking when your down is an acceptable thing to do, and to always carry a taser, it solves a good portion of your problems."
"Can't argue with that." Marcy laughed as they all exited the room. "So, how does everyone feel now?"
"Is therapy supposed to leave you feeling comforted and confused at the same time?" Chloe asked honestly.
"That's how it felt the first time for me." Steven said. "After a long while it actually starts to feel kinda good."
"Really?" Hunter asked. "I'm still not completely convinced that she won't take my soul out when my guard is down."
"That's exactly what Star says after every appointment." Steven laughed. "I get that feeling too every once in a while. The trick is to just be open from the start, so you'll feel less violated when she picks up on little details you try to avoid talking about."
"I still find all you people utterly ridiculous, but I'd feel more ridiculous if I was doing this alone." Chloe relented with a short huff. "So….is pizza as good as American's say it is?"
"Absolutely, only just had it a few years ago, but still second best food behind Cookie Cats." Steven smiled.
"You mean second best as pie." Hunter tried to suggest.
"We'll technically pizza IS a pie, so you're both kinda right." Marcy threw out her thoughts. This was a nice little group Steven found himself happy to be a part of. Another benefit to therapy he guessed.
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She yippied with the others, desperate to run around and drink milk. "You know, when Marco brings up ethics, I tend to ignore him." The giant green bush spoke. "But your spells having the capacity for children … yeah, that's where I get concerned." The curly headed one said as her fellow kin drank their nourishment.
"Oh, don't be such a worry wart. So what if the life I made makes life?" The blonde haired one shrugged.
"Does that mean we'll one day get a village of Doop Doops?" A tall person with a cal on their head asked.
"You're saying that as if there's anyone that's capable of actually liking Doop-doop like that, let alone have the…equipment for it." The blonde one shivered. "Ugh, I didn't need to have that image in my head today."
"Well mom and dad already love them." A boy covered in red looked at the two caregivers that paraded around her fellow kin.
"The house is crawling with babies, isn't that right, Mariposa?" The large hairy man gestured to a small human pup, who simply clapped her hands at the sight.
"Woah there." The large lady picked up the human pup as a laser missed. "The young ones still can't aim well honey, no matter how adorable their interactions are."
"Looks like your sis is going to get a taste of weirdness in her life with these little guys around." The talking tree laughed. "Then again, Meteora is essentially her best friend, so it was impossible to avoid either way."
"True …" The red one sighed. "Did you guys pick out names yet?"
"We're only picking the name Marco Junior for the one with a bald spot on its back." The tall lady gestured. "Feel free to name them yourselves."
"Sweet." The cap wearing girl picked one of her kin up as it lightly nibbled on her finger. "I think l'll call you Nibbler."
"Oooh, my turn." The blonde haired one picked another one of her kin up as it constantly let out a long stream of lasers from the only eye it was capable of opening. "Hm…I think I'll call you cyclops."
The curly boy picked her up and looked down at her, eyes gazing her curiously. It made her happy, so she licked his nose. He chuckled. "It's a bit weird but … I wanna call you Rose." Everyone around him stared. "What? It's just a name, it can have its on association outside of others who have the same one."
She yipped happily. So now she was called Rose, that seemed like a fun name, whatever it meant. "It's nothing Steven, just mildly surprised, that's all." The blonde one patted her brother's back.
The red boy picked up another kin, as they had a staring match. "I'm calling this one … Quirky." They said. "After an old friend of mine …"
"Guess that leaves me." The tree picked up the last one, looking into its green eyes. "Hm, I'm torn between calling you Sugar or Rebecca."
"Sugar!" The blonde one shouted weirdly. "I..I mean, because when they run up to you they just look so sweet?"
"... Alright?" The tree stared in confusion. "Sugar it is." Her kin barked happily in response.
"I'll choose to ignore whatever issues you have with the name Rebecca for now and just keep letting the puppies." The curly one continued to share his warmth and affection with her. "I gotta say, the past year, despite the ups and downs, I feel great about everything that's happened." Her boy smiled wildly. "It almost feels like we're living some sort of happily ever after."
"Who's to say we aren't?" The blonde girl asked. "We beat everyone that's a major threat after all, there's nothing else bad other than everyone else's problems."
"Yeah…I almost hate to say it, but we're done facing our baddies." The red hooded one smiled. "All there's left is helping everyone else out every once in a while, but other than that…we're done."
The child that named her smiled. "A happily … ever after …"