AN: Time for Hat Kid and Snatcher finally sit down and talk about their pasts. This chapter will focus specifically on Hat Kid and then next will focus on Snatcher. Please note that for Hat Kid her past in this story is only canon to this story, and same goes with the extra stuff I make up for Snatcher unless said otherwise.

Anyways, brace for sadness, fluff, angst filled memories, and just bad times all around, until the fluff happens that is.

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They were leaving her.

Again.

The figures in the distance, blurred by the heavy fog that surrounded them, continued to slowly walk away from her, not once looking back.

Her heart ached.

She cried out, reaching for them, but the figures did not respond and kept moving away. Moving away from her. She tried to run after them, tried to pick up her legs, but her limbs felt as though they were stuck and trying to move through thick mud.

No matter how hard she tried she could barely move, and the figures in the distance were getting further away still. She had to stop them somehow!

"I'm sorry I'm not good enough, but please, take me with you!" She shouted, voice cracking in sorrow as she spoke.

"Don't leave me alone again!"

Finally the figures turned around, their features sharpening into focus, oddly similar to her own. She grinned and tried to run towards them, relief flooding her.

"Burden."

The word was whispered but it floated through the silent air and into her ears, stumbling as her body came to a halt. Panic spread through her and her body started quaking.

No she was not. She was no burden she would not hold them back while they explored.

"Burden, burden, burden, burden,"

No they're lying, I'm not a burden! I can take care of myself just please don't leave me here!

"Burden, burden, burden, burden,"

I'm not, I promise I'm not! Don't leave me alone, please!

"Goodbye."

MOM, DAD, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!

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Hat Kid woke up with a gasp, tears already spilling out of her eyes as she clutched at the red blanket she had "borrowed" from Snatcher. The warm fabric did little to alleviate the sorrow and pain that still threatened to engulf her, but she did her best to ground herself.

She took a deep breath in and let it out, repeating this process several more times until her mind was just a bit more clear, her thoughts a smidge more coherent.

The blanket smelled like books, it smelled like Snatcher.

More tears poured out of her eyes. She wanted Snatcher! She wanted someone to make her feel better and the goofy shadow never failed to do so, even when he tried to be mean!

"Relying on someone else doesn't make you weak."

Snatcher...

It was weird how nervous she felt about bugging him now. Usually she would have no problem bursting into his house tree thing and annoying the life, or death, out of him, but now she was scared he would reject her.

Reject her like her parents had.

"Snatcher told me I could depend on people." Hat Kid muttered, further wrapping the blanket around her. "He also helped me when I was sick and tried to protect me when he thought I was in danger."

The fear of rejection still flourished in her troubled heart, but the child did her best to push it down and slowly get out of bed. She did not bother to change out of her lavender pajamas, a button up shirt and matching pants, and instead threw the blanket over her shoulders.

Her signature hat was picked up, but she did not bother to place it on her head. She felt better holding something, she felt safer using her hat as some sort of barrier as dumb and idea it might be.

Her feet quickly slipped into her boots and she left her bedroom, making sure to stop the blanket from dragging on the ground. It was pretty big but after she had wrapped it around her shoulders enough times it formed a makeshift poncho, ending just above the ground.

Hopefully Snatcher would not get too angry if it got dirty...

From what Hat Kid understood this was one of the few items from the shadow's past that he had positive memories with, which made sense considering everything he had been through, so she had no idea how he would react to it getting damaged.

The thought of having to face an angry Snatcher nearly made her retreat to her bed, but she kept walking.

The main area of the ship was dark, powered down to preserve energy. The little bit of light came from the stars outside, casting much of the interior in shadows. It looked spooky, like Subcon.

Hat Kid smiled.

She padded over to the window and looked down at the planet. It was night time so most of the inhabitants would be asleep, but Subcon never slept, trapped in its eternal night. Suddenly a small thud from beside her and the child looked down at the robot that bumped into the wall.

It was Rumbi.

The small robot let out a beep, recognizing that something was going on with its shipmate as she was not usually out of her room at this time, unless she wanted to get something to eat. It had a feeling that this trip was not for some late night cookies.

"I have to go for a little bit, but I'll be back, I promise!" Hat Kid said. She always made promises like that when leaving people, especially those she was close to.

She would not be like her parents.

"Rumbi keep an eye on the ship while I'm gone!" The vacuum robot let out another beep, jumping as it did so.

With that Hat Kid flung herself down to the surface of the planet, aiming at a familiar purple spot. The coolness of space enveloped her and for a moment the child was swimming amongst the stars.

The first seconds of planet fall were always the most relaxing. The contrast of warmth and cool, and the momentary weightlessness before gravity took over and pulled her down to the planet. As she fell a protective sphere of energy gathered around her, preventing any damage her descent might cause.

It was a strange ability that had existed within her species for a very long time, an adaptation for their frequent travels to other planets.

Once she got close enough to the ground the child made sure to bend her knees so the landing did not hurt. Her boots hit the snow covered ground and she sprung up, striking her signature pose. She had to lift up the blanket a bit to make sure the ends did not get snow on them and then made her way over to Snatcher's house.

She had landed on the path in front of his home so the walk was not too far, she just had to make sure she did not slip and fall into the water.

That would be embarrassing, and the last thing she needed right now, seconds away from an emotional break down.

Meanwhile the shadow she was walking towards was, for the moment, blissfully unaware of the emotionally distraught child making her way to his home. The past several "days" had been pretty busy with getting Moonjumper settled in and making a home for the jolly corpse.

Not to mention the underlying tension within his subjects about the "new" arrival. He would have to tell them the truth at some point, but not today.

He sighed and leaned back further in his chair, continuing to read one of his old law books. Yes, he would certainly enjoy his nice, relaxing evening all to himself...

Hat Kid entered the tree, sniffling as she did so. Snatcher looked up and was immediately taken aback by her drastically different appearance.

She was an absolute mess!

Her pajamas were rumbled, a sign she had gotten out of bed recently, and the blanket he had given her had been hastily wrapped around her body in, what he assumed, was an attempt to keep herself warm. The brim of her hat was crumpled as she held it in a tight grasp in front of her body.

However the worst part by far was her tear stained face.

Her eyes were rimmed with a red stain, a sign she had been crying for some time, and there were still tear tracks running from her eyes down to her face.

What had happened?!

He immediately placed his book off to the side and floated out of his seat, worriedly looking at the obviously distressed child in front of him.

Before he could even open his mouth Hat Kid flung herself at him. On instinct Snatcher opened his arms up and gently caught her, taking the chance to check her over for any injuries. After finding nothing he lifted her up into his arms a little bit more so she was leaning against his chest, assuming her usual position as she snuggled against him, and then sat back down in his chair.

"Kid, what happened?" Snatcher asked, whispering softly in an attempt to sooth the child.

She sniffed and wiped her runny nose with her sleeve, careful to make sure the blanket was out of the way. She then took a deep breath and began to speak. "I had a..."

To tell the truth or not, the child thought to herself as indecisiveness ran rampant within her mind. It was not too late to back out and go back to her ship...

No, Snatcher said he would help her and she had to trust in that. The nightmares were starting to get a bit too frequent, and that weirdo was not here to help her.

"I had a nightmare," Hat Kid started once again, clenching her hat once again as she spoke. "But I had it cause I remembered something, something bad."

Well that was foreboding, Snatcher thought to himself as he gently ran his hand up and down the child's back in a soothing manner.

"You can tell me if you want to, kiddo." Clearly this all involved her odd amount of maturity and her near obsession with not being regarded as a burden. He honestly did not know what to expect out of this conversation, but hoped it was nowhere near as bad as it seemed.

Then again with his luck...

"I-" Her breathing hitched, she could not speak of it now, not while the old pain was still so fresh, like a scar ripped open, but perhaps she could talk about something else. Well, Snatcher did say they would have to talk about their pasts at some point and it looked like now was the time.

It would certainly be the best way to fully explain her nightmare, her memories, to someone who had not experienced them.

"I was raised by an old man back on my home planet." The child began, looking down at her clenched hands rather than the face of the shadow above her. "He's pretty weird and has a third eye. He's also responsible for taking care of the Time Pieces."

She paused and then continued speaking, knowing she would be in a lot of trouble for revealing this much information. "His name is Tim, Tim the CEO of Time."

Tim had always been at the center of her life for as long as she could remember. He had been the one who taught her how to read and write long before she started school and had given her the hat she always wore.

He had also been the one who had assigned her the mission that resulted in her getting stranded on this planet. It had been simple, collect the newly discovered Time Pieces and bring them back to her home planet so they could be refined and used as fuel.

It was funny how such a basic mission had completely changed her life.

Snatcher looked incredibly confused, especially about the casually mentioned third eye, but motioned for her to keep talking.

"I was always confused when I played outside with the other kids." She remembered the awed looks whenever Tim appeared to take her back "home", the hushed whispers from the adults whenever she ran up to him, a big smile on her face.

The terrified glances that were thrown at the ancient being that had assumed guardianship over her.

"Most kids had a mom and a dad, but I didn't have anything like that." Okay, here it comes, just take a deep breath and keep talking.

"All I had was Tim and growing up I didn't know why, which is when I asked him." Snatcher leaned down so he was closer to the girl, sensing... something alarming radiating off of her aura.

The fear, the terror, the pain, the sorrow.

"My parents didn't want to take care of me after I was born." Oh god, why did it feel like she was suffocating under those words, like her lungs were collapsing. She felt the shadow stiffen, the arms wrapped around her tightening as the implications dawned on him, but she kept talking.

"They... they." She was drowning under the weight of the truth she did not want to admit, her very soul slowly breaking as she was forced to acknowledge it.

"Tim, why don't I have a mom and dad?" The four year old asked her guardian.

The old man look uncharacteristically serious as the question registered in his mind. A frown settled on his face and all three of his eyes closed in concentration. After what felt like an eternity they opened, landing on the child with an intense gaze.

This was not the first time she had asked him this question, but it was happening more and more as she realized the differences between herself and her peers. Her school had not helped, forcing the concepts of what kind of family children "should" have upon her and making her question much of her life.

The CEO of Time sighed, he did not want to have this conversation while she was so young, but it looked like he had no choice.

He gestured for her to follow him and together they made their way up to his private library. It was a small room, full bookshelves covering three of the four walls with the last having a massive window in it, revealing the darkening sky.

A large sofa sat in front of this window, facing the interior of the room. The man walked forward and sat down on the comfortable cushions, the child copying him only a second later.

"Hat," Tim began, that serious expression still on his face. "Sometimes families don't stay together and split apart. In your case..."

He sighed.

"Your parents are responsible for collecting Time Pieces and are some of the best when retrieving them." The child nodded, her too big hat flopping back and forth with her movements.

She knew that the Time Pieces were super important and super powerful, which meant her parents had to be like double super important, or something like that!

But that still did not explain why they were not with her.

"They," Tim licked his suddenly dry lips. "They decided that collecting the Time Pieces was..."

Damn, how does one explain to a child that their parents abandoned them without crushing the kid's soul?

"They didn't want you to cause trouble while collecting the Time Pieces so they left you here and I decided to take you in." There, a thorough explanation that did not completely break her heart, but he would have to tell her the entire truth when she got older.

"So they're coming back when I get older!" The child cried out, a large smile taking over her face.

"No, they're not." Tim sighed and placed his face in his hand, feeling hundreds of years older. The smile vanished, its light blocked like when the clouds cover the sun.

"Why not?!" She whined, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes as her frustration grew.

"Because they're going to be collecting Time Pieces for a long time and were worried about you..." He was going to have to say it, say the words that would break the heart of the child in front of him.

Tim wished to spare the girl from this pain for as long as possible, but he was not willing to lie and make her parents seem any better than they actually were. Their success and prestige would not change the garbage creatures that they were.

"They didn't want you to hold them back during their missions so they left you here." The old man sighed, all of his eyes closing as the weight of his words crushed the child before him.

It was her fault. The dawning realization slammed into the child's mind forcing the tears to finally fall. It was because of her that her parents were not coming back!

The child sobbed weakly against her guardian, faintly aware of one of his hands gently running up and down her back in an attempt to sooth her. Would her weakness continue to drive them away? Would she never get to meet her parents because of how pathetic she was?

No, if she was stronger, if she did better, then they would have to come back, right?

She would always do her best, she would become the best in everything! Then they would come back! If she proved she would not weigh them down during their travels, that she was not a burden, they would have to come back for her!

From that day on the child constantly pushed herself to her limits and beyond, gaining an expertise in acrobatics in the process. The bruises, cuts, and even broken limbs did not halt her determined growth and her reputation quickly soared to new heights.

She was regarded as one of the most talented children that her home planet had ever seen, her legacy already marked down in history books before she had become a teenager. Surely, she constantly thought to herself, this prestige would draw her parent's attention to her and show them how strong she had become.

Show them that she would not be a burden on their travels. Show them that they could all still be a family, even if her parents had been absent for most of her life if they came back for her.

But they never did, leaving behind a weeping child with broken dreams.

"They left me!" Hat Kid sobbed, burrowing into Snatcher's chest as best she could. "They d-didn't want me because I was a burden!"

Snatcher froze, the words echoing through him mind and digging deep into his soul. There was no way the kid was talking about...

Why would anyone...

For a moment the shadow was shocked and then pure, seething rage slammed into him.

He wanted nothing more than to find the pathetic creatures that were supposed to be her parents and rip them to shreds. His magic reacted to his fury, a purple and yellow haze surrounded him, his hands changed to talons, and his hair sharpened into points.

His eyes burned with a, unearthly, yellow glow that promised nothing but pain and suffering for those who crossed his gaze.

The change in Snatcher's aura was perhaps the most terrifying part. The immediate projection of hate, kill, and protect set every creature on edge. The Subconites and Moonjumper were intimately aware of his feelings because of this but they knew better than to intervene.

Well, Moonjumper would drop by once Snatcher's emotions calmed down since he knew if he tried now he would just get yelled at and blasted with magic.

The sight inside the warmly lit tree trunk was slightly ironic when you thought about it.

If any outsider found the duo, a crying child and an enraged, demon like creature it would be assumed that the creature had made the child cry. Yet to those who lived within the forest and who knew the child and shadow a different conclusion would be reached.

The child was grieving and her father was furious at the pain she was going through.

Finally Snatcher was able to push aside his own emotions and focus on the weeping child in his arms. Later, he promised himself, he could break down later, but now he had to take care of the kid.

His kid.

He cooed and hummed softly, rocking her still shaking frame back and forth as he tried to help calm her down. Occasionally she would try to speak through the tears, but the shadow merely hushed her and continued to rock her back and forth, back and forth.

It took so long to calm the child down and at one point Snatcher was worried she was going to make herself sick from all the crying. The drool had been bad enough, getting vomit on him would be...

Snatcher shuddered.

Finally her choked cries began to fade and her breathing evened out. Her body stopped shaking and she let out one final, shuddering sigh. When this happened he stopped rocking her and instead allowed the child to relax in his lap once more. She then surprised the shadow when she continued speaking, her voice sounding far more worn out then it had before.

"When I was old enough I looked through the Archives and found out who my parents were." Hat Kid muttered, tears still leaking out of her eyes while she spoke.

"They're both famous heroes back on my home planet cause of all the Time Pieces they collected. They didn't want to lose everything just to raise me, so they..." The child let out a shuddering breath and did her best to lock her emotions up once again.

He would kill these pathetic excuses for parents if they ever crossed his path, the shadow promised himself. Torture them, rip their souls asunder, all sorts of horrid things that they deserved for what they had put his kid through.

How dare they abandon her when they could have easily taken care of her!

Hat Kid sighed and rubbed her eyes, clearing out the liquid that was still gathered in the corners. "I can understand why though, I really am a burden aren't I?"

It was nice to know that she could rely on Snatcher for this support, but clearly her parents had deemed this kind of help to be too cumbersome to deal with during their adventures. She would have slowed them down and been a burden.

"WE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT THIS KID!" Snatcher roared, his hair fluffing up in agitation and magic lashing out in dangerous waves.

The shadow had officially reached his breaking point.

He was furious at what his child had been forced to go through and at the false realities that were embedded now in her mind. It was truly horrifying how damaging the trauma she had lived through had been and how dangerous it would become if allowed to continue.

Like father, like daughter, he mentally realized as he noticed more connections between him and the kiddo.

The shadow sighed and shoved his emotions to the side once more and glanced down to Hat Kid who was now looking up at him in a combination of confusion and slight awe, as if she could not believe that he continued to think that she was not a burden.

Ugh, just thinking of the word left a foul taste in his mouth.

"What they say or how important they are does not matter!" Snatcher said, now ready to continue his earlier tirade.

"But they're my parents-"

"THEY DON'T DESERVE TO BE CALLED THAT!"

The air between the duo was tense as the shout continued to echo around them. The shadow was panting, partly from how much magic he was letting out in his emotional state, but mostly from the anger that burned inside of him.

Those monsters have no right to that title!

Parents were supposed to be loving people who cared about and protected their children no matter what!

Or at least that was what his recovered memories of his own parents consisted of. His father scolding him about staying up too late to watch the stars and his mother placing bandages on the scratches he got after falling out of a tree.

Their warm, joyful smiles, the seemingly endless love in their eyes. Even when the cold winters drew close his family would huddle up in the living room next to the fire place sharing their body heat.

Protecting each other in their own way.

"Those two don't deserve your love or thoughts." He muttered, feeling the weight of the world gathering on his words.

"Parents are supposed to love you and take care of you, no matter their struggles, and yours failed because they were lazy and didn't bother to try!"

Snatcher held Hat Kid tight, snuggling her against his chest. "Honestly kid, you're super annoying,"

Cue laughter from the squirming child.

"Terrible at understanding the basics of law,"

More laughter.

"Plus you have no idea how to cook and I'm terrified that the spaghetti in your fridge will come to life and eat you some day,"

She was nearly crying from how hard she was laughing.

"But you're the furthest thing from a burden, more like the complete opposite." With that he gently released the child so she could look him in the eyes. He smiled down at her and ruffled her hair.

"So stop calling yourself that, stop lying to yourself, please." Snatcher knew he would not be able to resolve this confidence issue so easily, but it had to start somewhere. If he could get the kiddo to stop using that word...

"You sound a lot like Tim." Hat Kid muttered as she looked up into the shadow's warm eyes.

Maybe they were both right, neither Tim nor Snatcher had ever lied to her. Okay there were those contracts she had completed, and the fight between her and the shadow, but still!

They genuinely seemed to care about her.

At that moment Hat Kid decided to break the promise that had driven her for so many years. It was obvious to her now that it had only brought sorrow to not just her own life, but to the lives of those who cared about her as well.

It would take time to change her mentality towards herself, but she would do her best.

Besides, she had Snatcher, the Subconites, Moonjumper, and Tim. There were so many people who cared about her and only wanted her to be happy. They did not need her to be successful, not like her parents-

No, Snatcher was right, they were not her parents. They were the people who had been responsible for making her, but that was it, their connection to her ended after she was born.

Peck, Snatcher was more of a father to her then her biological one had ever been!

Not that she would ever say that out loud. She could only imagine the screaming fit that would occur if she ever said anything like that in front of him.

"Thank you." Hat Kid said, happily smiling up at Snatcher.

Once again a silent, calm air descended over the duo. Hat Kid basked in the comfort she was receiving from the ghostly figure, knowing it was not something that would happen too often, and Snatcher...

"It looks like it's my turn to tell you a story." The shadow said, closing his eyes momentarily as he figured out the best way to tell his tale.

"You don't have to!" The child already knew the heartache that was Snatcher's past, and while she was definitely curious about some of the specifics she honestly did not want to torture the shadow by forcing him to relive his past.

"Nah kid, I promised I would, and I don't break promises."

With that Snatcher sighed and leaned back in his seat, adjusting the blanket that covered Hat Kid. His memories might not have fully returned, the time he had spent with Moonjumper also consisted of recalling his youth growing up in his village, but they would be enough to tell his tale.

A tale of sorrow and pain, of anger and jealousy, of betrayal and murder. This history of what was now known as Subcon Forest.

The shadow opened his mouth and spoke, or tried to. Before he could speak he found a familiar hat being shoved into his face. He took it and sent a soft smile to the child, immediately understanding what she wanted.

A second later the still somewhat wrinkled hat now sat upon Snatcher's head. He coughed, clearing his nonexistent throat, and began.

"Once upon a time..."

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AN: My guilty pleasure is making characters suffer as you can tell.