Note: Whoooo, this is a rather quick update. For some reason, I found myself thinking of another scenario that would most likely occur (which is completely horrid) which is Blossom's death. So I figured that Doug would probably need some comforting, and which person would be better to comfort him than the person who lost her beloved mentor from old age as well? Haha, I actually don't ship them together, but I personally like to believe that EVERYONE is just FRIENDS with EVERYONE in this village. No, just me? Well, okay then lol. Hopefully I'll get to write lovely friendship moments with everyone.

I sorta just spit out the first two stories without really looking through for mistakes and errors, so if you do indeed see them, let me know~

Without further ado, here we go!

Don't own anything!

Memoirs of Death

Rated T for language/angst?

(Contains Doug x Margaret Friendship Comfort)

May Contain Spoilers if Not Completed All Story Arcs

"Damn it all…"

As soon as those words left the red haired dwarf's mouth, they were lost in the rain on the gloomy day. It was a day, one unusual for such a gorgeous town of Selphia. This rain was not the typical showers that Selphia typically received; it was sullen, somber. It suited the mood that the villagers were in today.

Doug sat in front of the pool of water in front of the general store, unnoticing the rain that continued to drench him. The coldness that he felt from the rain was nothing to the pain that he felt from his heart.

Staring at his reflection in the water, he gazed at the ripples that the rain made. His emotions flaring, he swiftly kicked the water's surface, dispelling the cloudy picture of himself. He couldn't take looking at himself any longer. The hot-headed man buried his face into his hands.

"I should have been there… I should have done more..."

Today was the day of Blossom's funeral.

It seemed like a normal day. As usual, Doug was goofing around, spreading mischief around the lively town. When he entered into the general store in the afternoon to check on Granny Blossom, he quickly noticed her pale complexion and the weakened look on her face. She was hardly standing behind the counter; she was leaning against it with shivers ran through her body.

Rushing to her side, he lifted her up gently and carried her upstairs. The dwarf tucked her into her bed and rushed out. Blossom needed help, and Nancy and Jones were the two people that she needed.

Bursting through the door of the clinic, the doctor and the nurse both stopped their conversation with each other to stare at the sudden entrance of the dwarf. Their faces paled when they heard the news and rushed over to the general store, Doug trailing not far behind.

Jones and Nancy did their best to relieve the elderly woman as Doug frantically paced in the kitchen, his heart pounding. If anything happened to her, he didn't know what he would do. Soon, Nancy left Blossom's bedroom and summoned Doug. Jones and Nancy were allowing Doug to speak to Blossom before she would endure intense treatment.

Making his way as quietly as possible, he saw a weak smile onto the woman who took him in. He gently grasped her rather cold hand and reassured her that she was going to be okay. Or was he trying to reassure himself?

Blossom left out a slight chuckle as she gently croaked to him that she would be fine, especially if she was in the hands of Jones and Nancy. Convincing himself that the elder would be fine, he gave her hand another squeeze and stood up from her bedside. He started to leave but stopped. He suddenly turned around, kissed her forehead, and left. He trusted the couple to do their best to make her feel better. Doug just wasn't sure if fate had that in mind for her,

And how right he was.

In a few hours, he was greeted by Jones and Nancy, both boring grim looks on their faces. Analyzing the situation, he ran into Blossom's bedroom without a word to see it for himself. His knees buckled as he saw the body laying rather peacefully in the bed.

She was indeed dead.

The entire town mourned for such a loss. Everyone felt an attachment to the kind elderly woman. They wept and swore that she will never be erased from their memories and hearts.

For obvious reasons, Doug took her death the hardest. Everyone tried comforting him. Dylas even awkwardly laid his hand onto his shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze as if to say that he is not alone. Although the dwarf appreciated everyone's concern, he still felt empty in the inside.

He thought that he would be strong enough to at least be there for her funeral.

However, he lost it. Right when he saw her body in the coffin, his whole body froze. His mind raced to the memories that he buried long ago. Back to his past.

Destruction.

Chaos.

Fire.

Blood.

Death.

Oh, there was so much death.

The corpses of his parents...

Grief.

Rage.

REVENGE.

The recollections continued to overwhelm him as his breaths grew shorter and shorter. His head pounded as each memory continued to rush through his mind. Doug could clearly remember the pain that he felt, The emotions that he felt. He felt them coming. And he couldn't stop them.

Unable to take it much longer, he spun around and dashed away from the town square.

Thus leaving him into his current predicament; sitting in front of a pool of water rather pitifully in the rain. He could have done something differently on that day. Maybe that could have prolonged her death a bit longer. He should have been in that exact room, holding her hand when she died.

Why is he never there when the most important people to him die?

Feeling the weight of his internal battle, he felt hot tears running down his face.

Damn it all…

Wallowing in his emotions, he failed to hear the gentle footsteps approaching him. It wasn't until the girl sat right next to him without a word as when he finally registered her presence. His eyes widened in surprise as he tried his best to wipe his tears away. He thought that he had an image that he wanted to maintain.

Feeling her eyes peering into his soul, he finally broke the silence.

"What are you doing here, Margaret?"

The elven girl merely shrugged and countered with her own question.

"I can ask you the same thing, Doug."

There was a long pause, rain filling in the silence between the two.

Margaret was about to open her mouth to say something, but the dwarf cut her off.

"I'm not going back if that's why you are here. At least not now."

Her forehead furrowed as she decided to give the young man some slack for cutting off what she was about to say. His crude voice rang out through the rain.

"Why are you here anyway?"

Margaret gave another pause as she pondered. Why did she come after him? It was not like they were particularly close to one another. As soon as everyone saw the dwarf rush out, several people automatically got up to run after them. Two of those people who wanted to help Doug was Forte and Kiel. Having their parents leave them, they too understood the pain that he must be in.

And yet, she was the one who voiced out how she should be the one to go after him, and Porcoline agreed wholeheartedly. Margaret felt like she could best relate to him in this situation. The elf had an idea what to say to him, but when she finally approached him, all the words left her mind. For once, she felt speechless for what to say to him.

After another pause, Doug spoke again harshly.

"Are you here to comfort me? Tsk, I don't need your damn pity."

Her beautiful blue eyes narrowed at the rudeness of his tone.

She retorted, "What makes you think I'm here to pity you?"

Silence.

The pair once again sat in silence, taking in their thoughts as well as the rain that continued to rain against their bodies.

His voice once again broke the pause.

"Why else would you be here?"

It sounded so hoarse. So broken.

Silence.

Margaret's mind raced as she thought of a million things that she could tell the dwarf to make him feel better about Blossom's death. She finally decided to reveal a part that she didn't like showing to other people. Her past...

With a sigh, the elf prepared herself as she tried to calm her emotions as she recalled the memories that she tried to push away.

"I just have something to say to you."

Curious, Doug brought his knees up and laid his head on top of them, wrapping his arms around his legs. (Note: Think of the fetal position) His silver eyes, although murky from the inner turmoil that his emotions were having, gleamed a bit with curiosity of what the mature girl has to say to him.

"Before coming to this town, I used to live somewhere else, the Elven kingdom. There, I had a mentor who taught me music. As you can imagine, we were very close. We were like a family. I was so happy to be with him, and he was happy to be with me as well."

Margaret sniffed as she remembered the kind face of her tutor. A tear fell down her cheek as she pushed herself to continue the story, no matter how much it was hurting her.

"Of course, as you know, I am an elf. And a common trait of elves is that we typically live longer than humans. And so, I watched him age before my eyes. As I stayed youthful, he grew old. Soon… soon, he passed away."

More tears started streaming down her face as she recalled her mentor's death. Taking a pause, she closed her eyes, absorbing the emotions that she felt. Doug, feeling a slight twinge of remorse for the girl, scooted closer to her and wrapped his arm around her as to comfort her. He continued to stare at the pool of water, reflecting at her words.

No words were needed to exchange the pain of losing someone.

After some time has passed, her eyes opened a little and she laid her head against his shoulder. She wanted to continue her story and get to her point. Margaret believed that Doug needed to hear this. Or was it her who needed to hear it as well?

"Obviously, I was really sad, depressed even. I couldn't bear not being able to see his smiling face anymore. It wasn't until Porocoline found me was I able to move on."

At that note, Doug turned his head towards her. Her face expressions changed from a sullen look to a loving face as she remembered the kind faces that she encountered when she went with Porcoline. Everyone in this strange town in Selphia was just absolutely wonderful to her and just as dear.

"If I had not met Porcoline, I would not have step a foot into this town. I would not have met everyone. I would not have been saved by everyone's kindness."

Turning her head towards him, she gave him a gentle smile as if to tell him that everyone is going to be okay.

"I know that your entire clan, including your parents, have left you. So the pain of Blossom's death must also remind you of their deaths as well. That's something no one should ever endure. At least not alone."

Taking in her words, Doug turned his head away and looked at the water. He saw both Margaret and himself sitting side by side, leaning against each other for support. The elven girl continued.

"So, feel free to feel remorse. It is normal for people to feel sad, so don't hold back. Just know that you have everyone else to support you. No matter what you think, you are not alone."

Closing his eyes, he left her words soothe his emotions. He felt himself almost come into peace, despite the sorrow still lingering in his body. When he finally opened his eyes, he noticed that the rain started to lighten a little.

He was not over Blossom's death. Not by a long shot. But, he felt more at peace. He has everyone to help him get back on track. He turned to Margaret and gave her a grin.

"Thanks, Margaret. I needed that."

She returned his smile and they both got up to attend the funeral. As Doug was about to step into the town square where the funeral processions were occurring, he hesitated a little. Margaret, noticing his slight hesitation to face reality once again, placed her hand on his shoulder.

Reacting to her touch, he turned his head and their eyes met. One glance into her eyes made his eyes swell up in resolution. Turning his head back, he continued on, just like life would eventually do for him.

Man, this is the longest that I have EVER written. I just hope I managed to keep characters in character, although I think I may have made Doug a bit too angsty and rude and Margaret a bit too awkward since she always seem to know which to say! Well, one reason why I chose Margaret over someone like Forte/Kiel, who has indeed lost a parental figure, was that I felt like losing a parent as a child is not the same as losing them as like an adult. It's not on the same emotional level, since as an adult, you make more memories of them and remember them more than as a child, although as a child, if your parents were gone for a large part of your life, you don't really miss them as much since they were never really there.

Well anyway, please review and I am indeed curious about the pairings that you guys enjoy (or just want to see more friendship moments as well! (Maybe if I see a pairing that I like, I may feel motivated enough to dedicate my next story to it, hehe)

Once again, constructive criticism is encouraged!