This is a quick follow up to Whispers in the Wind. This short came to me WEEKS ago, and I decided to post it. Please read Whispers in the Wind before you read this!

And before I start, I want to just give thanks to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has given me ideas such as this to help people in life. I pray that you find a powerful lesson in this, which is that everyone has a heart. Amen.

Story Title:
A Shoulder to Cry On

Genre/Tags: Angst/Hurt/Comfort/Romance

Connected to:Hugs and Kisses (to be more specific, Whispers in the Wind)

Summary: It's been years after the events of Whispers in the Wind, but the healing process continues...AU, obviously.

Disclaimer: Don't own Veggie Tales, folks. Move along.

A Shoulder to Cry On

It was the Tuesday after her birthday when he brought flowers to her grave.

The weather was muggy and wet, and the ground sloshed up under him. He sighed as he treaded through the soft ground, remembering why he hated the summer so much. It was hot and sticky, it rained constantly, and there were bugs. He hated bugs with a passion.

He and his friends came to the gravesite, and it was there that he confronted his other reason for hating summer. Ten years ago, during the season of longer, hotter days and big budget movies, was when he'd lost a dear co-worker, friend and potential girlfriend.

Tears came to his eyes as he gently placed the bouquet of fresh roses on the weathered headstone, and he hastily sniffled to keep himself from bursting into tears. It'd been ten years, and he still couldn't stop crying. She was right about him being a softie at heart, especially when it came to sad things.

It was times like these when he reflected on the events on what transpired ten years ago, and what could have happened if the events were altered.

He wondered what it would have been like if he had gotten to her sooner, and handled the situation with Julian better than he had originally.

He wondered what it would have been like to have actually finished that picture.

He wondered what a life with her would be like. He wondered what would have happened if he actually accepted her feelings, if they had gone out, gotten married, and started a family together.

He often questioned himself as he looked back on the ten years that had passed. He berated himself for falling into a near suicidal depression that nearly cost him everything, including his life. He often questioned what would have happened if Mr. Lunt hadn't gotten to him in time and literally slapped him back to his senses before he-

He shook his head. Spending too much time thinking about what could have been and what he should have done would only serve to make him lose it.

And right now, with Archie and Larry right behind him, he couldn't afford to do that. The last thing he wanted was for them to feel bad about him again.

Sighing, he looked down at the grave, remembering the words he'd whispered to the wind, when really it had been the last time he'd seen her altogether. When he'd told Archie about it, the asparagus naturally assumed that he'd been hallucinating, but he knew he wasn't. He'd been wide awake when he'd come out for his nightly walk. He knew just what he'd seen.

A crash of thunder sounded above, nearly jolting Bob out of his skin. Archie and Larry looked up at the sky and then back at Bob.

"Bob, we've got to go in a little while," Archie said. "It's going to pour down raining any second!"

"Not until I talk to Madame Blue," Bob said. He sighed as he remembered that her real name was Geneva, but he'd called her that out of habit. Then again, nobody really used her real name anymore. Not since her death.

With a shaky sigh, he turned back towards the headstone. The thunder rumbled ominously in the distance, as though giving him yet another warning of the storm.

"Hey. I know it's been a while. Sorry I haven't come by. I wanted to come last week, on your birthday, but...It's just...I wanted to get myself back together. I-I couldn't come back here feeling guilty. That's what I've done for the ten years: feeling guilty over what happened. We all have. But no more of that. I promised my friends that I was going to turn over a new leaf, and that's what I'm going to do."

He sighed before continuing. "I know you might be wondering why I came on this particular day. I just wanted to bring you your favorite flowers before I leave for work. You know how I used to bring you flowers on your birthday? Yeah, well, I never really got out of that habit, did I?" A soft chuckle escaped his throat. Then, his eyes moistened with tears, and at that moment a few raindrops start to fall from the sky.

There were a few soft thuds, and Larry and Archie came on either side of Bob. Both of them had somber expressions on their faces as they paid their respects to their fellow actress. The rain started to come down steadier, but neither veggie cared. They were too lost in their own sorrow to even do so.

"You've been a great friend, Madame Blue, and a great inspiration to Petunia. I think you'll be happy to know that we got back together again. We've been taking it slow, but I think that we'll be able to finally work things out," Larry said. His voice was sad.

"Also, we're reviving Carrotblanca in your honor. I know you would've loved it," Archie remarked. "I-It's going to have twice the scenery that was in the first edition, and there will be some more changes, obviously...but we're going to make it the best picture we possibly can. Because we know you wouldn't have it any other way."

Another crash of thunder filled the silence, and the rain started coming down harder. The three actors took one last glance at the resting place before marching out of the graveyard single file. Tears threatened to spill out of their eyes as they made it to the limousine waiting for them.

Archie's butler, a short, old asparagus named Edward, hurriedly opened the door for them, his own suit sopping wet from standing outside in the rain. As they got in, Larry noticed how pained Archie looked. The older asparagus looked ready burst into tears, and was shaking.

"Archie..." Larry started, but Archie interrupted him. He took out a handkerchief and hurriedly wiped away his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said. " Y-You don't need to worry about me. I'll be alright."

Bob and Larry looked at each other and then at Archie. "I don't think that's true, Archie. You're obviously not fine."

"L-Lovey was right about me being a crybaby..." Archie was trying hard not to break down into tears. "I tried to be strong, but in the end..."

"I don't think you've cried yet," Larry replied. "Or rather, you didn't give yourself the chance to. I mean, you were stonefaced during her funeral, and you always seem to be holding up well. You yourself said that you try to be the strong one to help people in distress. But..."

"But what?" Archie asked.

"We all cried after...Madame Blue's death," Bob said, his voice choked with a sob. "You've worked hard to get everyone back, and you've been really helping me out last year. But even you can't keep your emotions bottled up forever. Everyone, even the strong person, needs a shoulder to cry on."

When Bob said that, whatever remained of Archie's self-control snapped like an overstretched rubber band. Tears poured from his eyes as he began to cry, leaning on Larry for support. The cucumber did his best to hold back his tears as Bob leaned on his right side, also shedding tears of his own. Watching them cry brought back many memories of his time alone, without a job, without friends, without a home, without Petunia...

I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry...

But he did. Big fat crocodile tears fell from his eyes as he joined his friends in mourning. They remained that way for a long time, until the car finally stopped in front of the steps of Big Idea. The rain had let up considerably, and Jimmy and Jerry were standing outside in the awning of the building, peering outside and looking for them.

Edward stepped outside and went around the car to open the doors for the three. After hastily grabbing their things, Bob, Larry and Archie walked out of the limo. Archie stopped to give Edward his thanks.

"I am glad to be of service, sir," he said. "Is there anything else that you might need?"

"No thank you, Edward," Archie explained. "Thank you for offering. You can head home and get some rest. Heaven knows you're worked to the bone."

The asparagus bowed. "Very good, sir," he replied. He then walked over to the driver's seat and got into the limousine.

"There you guys are!" Jimmy cried as they reached the doors. "Petunia was just about to tell us to give you a call! We're a little...behind..."

Jimmy trailed off when he saw Archie's face as he came up the stairs. He and Jerry looked at each other, and then back at the actor. "Um, is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, everything's much better. We went to put flowers on Madame Blue's headstone," Archie said. "And...well..."

Jimmy and Jerry nodded sadly. They too had been planning to pay their respects to the blueberry for some time, but they couldn't do it in the end, as they were always overwhelmed with sadness over her death. They weren't as close to her as Bob and Larry had been, but she was still a co-worker who they treated like family.

"Yeah, well, uh...we'd better get inside. Pa's in there waiting for ya," Jimmy said awkwardly. With a nod of his head towards Jerry, he walked inside the building. Archie, Bob and Larry followed suit not long after.

And as the doors shut behind them, they knew that they would probably never go back to that place ever again.

THE END

For some reason, I can't keep stop thinking up darker stories for Veggie Tales. I say I'm not going to write another sad, heartbreaking fic, and I write it. What is my deal?

This basically deals with how Archie would handle this situation, as I realized during Whispers in the Wind he barely appeared at all. In my headcanon, he's not as close to Madame Blue as Larry is, but he still treats her like an equal and a good friend. He also had some pretty bad stuff happen to him over the ten year timeskip that occurred before this story, such as a family feud breaking out between his and Lovey's families, almost losing his visa, and then he learns that he and Lovey can't have any children, as Lovey had a miscarriage that rendered her unable to carry a baby to term (this one I was thinking about for the longest time, ever since I started drafting Very Veggie Romance). I also see Archie as the guy who feels as though he has to be the "anchor" in a depressing situation (like this for instance), but Bob notes that even he needs someone to cry on.

And yes, Archie has cried before, as Bob and Larry can attest to in some of my later fics. Friends have never seen you cry. Best friends have soggy shoulders from your tears.

I can't promise that my next fic won't be sad, as I'm currently on an angst/romance/tragedy/drama scheme for Veggie Tales right now. Hopefully, Very Veggie Romance will be done so we can get to happy, fluffy stories again.

R&R, and leave constructive criticism, and as usual no flaming, or spamming either.

God bless, iheartgod175