"Joy just turned 1 years old yesterday. There was frosting all over her cheeks from trying to eat her tiny slice of cake, and I thought it was just adorable. Joy then giggled and clapped her hands, pleased with the smile on my face. If I didn't know any better, I would think that she was trying to make me smile... If that was the case, then she sure is a smart girl...just like her Daddy."
"Sometimes I think about how my own mother must have felt. I could only assume that once she died, she could do nothing else but watch me grow up from afar in another realm. Now that I'm a mother, being able to put this in perspective, I would've been heart-broken if I was taken away from Joy. Because of this, I feel more for my mother, and miss her."
"And...I suppose Brick might be experiencing the same thing. Reduced to only watching Joy grow up, from wherever he is now."
"I would cry about it, but little Joy won't let me. It's funny to think about it..."
"...but I think I'm finally starting to heal from what happened. Not that my father's comfort didn't help me when I was still pregnant with Joy, but like I wrote once before...I think I needed her."
"Only Joy seemed to have the power to heal my emotional wounds."
Jill smiled a little bit when she set down the pencil, and looked over at Joy who was still snoozing away. Sonia didn't come back home last night, which is expected when she goes to the pub. Today, she was just fine by herself though…
She got up from the bed and she started cooking breakfast. At that point, the door opened up, and groaning was heard. Jill looked over at who came in with a sympathetic smile.
"...guh... never drinking again." Sonia groaned, as she stumbled into the cabin, holding a bag of ice against her head. "...g'mornin', Jill. How was your night?"
Jill just smiled, and she handed Sonia a cup of coffee, showing a thumbs-up as a reply to her question.
"...that's good to hear..." Sonia hummed, before she took a sip from the cup. When she moved the cup away from her lips, she shuddered. "...bitter."
Jill grabbed the creamer and set it down in front of Sonia, continuing on breakfast. "Thanks..." Sonia hummed, as she took the creamer and poured some on her coffee. "Joy's still asleep, right?" Jill nodded. "I see..." Sonia hummed. "...so, got any plans for today?"
Jill shrugged, and spooned some eggs onto a plate along with some bacon, sliding it over to Sonia.
"Thanks." Sonia said with a smile, as she began digging in. "...say... have you heard about the Music Square?"
Jill paused from the stovetop and looked over at Sonia with a tilted, curious look. She heard about Music Square, of course; given the fact that she's been on the island for nearly a year, but she wondered why Sonia would bring it up.
"Well, I figured that since you didn't have anything planned, maybe you could head over there today?" Sonia hummed. "You can take my violin with you."
Jill smiled, really liking that suggestion. She nodded, and finished scooping the last of the breakfast on two plates; one for her of course, and very little, cut-up portions for Joy when she woke up.
"Mama!"
Joy came toddling into the room, giggling, and she grabbed Sonia's leg to hug it. "Sonia!"
Sonia smiled when Joy hugged her leg. "...nice to see that she's cheerful." she mused.
Jill smiled, picking Joy up and setting her in her highchair and tying on her bib. Then she set the plate down in front of her and gave her a small spoon to eat with, while Jill picked up her own plate and started eating. Chuckling a bit, Sonia began eating from her plate.
Jill brought out her notepad and wrote to Sonia; How was last night for you?
"...eh, the same as any time I go to the pub." Sonia shrugged. "I get absolutely wasted, have no memory of anything after that, and wake up with someone in bed next to me."
Jill covered her mouth to hide her smile, and she would've giggled if she could.
"Hey, it's routine, at least." Sonia chuckled. "I'd be worried if that didn't happen when I got wasted at the pub." Jill still smiled, and then she saw that there was already a mess on Joy's face, covered with eggs. She came over to wipe a little bit off and held the spoon full of egg to properly feed her.
I think I will head to the Music Square and give it a try, Jill wrote after handing the spoon back to Joy. You want to come with me when I do?
"...yeah, sure; It could be fun." Sonia mused with a chuckle.
Jill smiled at Sonia again, and took a bite of her eggs.
Jill and Joy gathered themselves up, along with Sonia, and the three of them left their cozy cabin into the woods, and into town, straight for the town square that everyone called the Music Square. It circled around a large, decorative, beautiful fountain…
…and there were quite a bit of musicians there right now, surrounded by crowds that danced to the music and beats that they played.
Jill marveled at such a place; there was a lot of harmony and beautiful sounds that everyone played, and she felt very at home right in this area. She remembered hearing it from a lot of the soldiers, and she's even passed by it herself every now and then…but she'd never really gone directly to it like today, and she secretly felt a bit excited.
"Well, nice to see the three of you here," They stopped when they encountered Ivory, Mia and Brute.
"Oh, you guys are here, too?" Sonia hummed.
"Yup." Mia hummed, folding her arms. "What brings you guys here?"
"Well, Jill hasn't been here before." Sonia said with a chuckle.
"Is that so?" Ivory murmured, folding her arms. Then she saw the violin case Jill was carrying. "…Condit, you never told me you were a musician," Ivory chuckled and Jill just shrugged.
"So, is she good?" Mia hummed.
"From what I've heard, yeah." Sonia chuckled.
"…well c'mon then; we'll clear a spot for you," Ivory urged with a nudge of her head, and the six of them weaved through the crowd.
Sonia smiled, as she nudged Jill a bit. "Get ready; this will get everyone's attention, I just know it."
Jill smiled a bit. Finally, they found an open spot, and Jill set down Joy and the violin case to open it up.
"Alright; give her some space..." Sonia said, as she motioned for Ivory, Mia and Brute to move a bit to the side.
Jill looked at the violin, smiling a bit.
"...so, what do we have here?" a female voice suddenly sneered.
Instantly, Sonia flinched. "...not here..." she uttered, before she glanced to the side; where they spotted Berta, her arms folded and a smug smirk on her.
"…is your presence really necessary, Berta?" grumbled Ivory.
"What? I spotted the rookie about to screw up, and I couldn't pass an opportunity like that up!" Berta chuckled.
"Oh, just leave, already." Sonia scoffed dryly. "I know that Jill could outplay everyone here at the square."
"Feh, really?" Berta scoffed back. "What a load. Why don't you show it, instead of having someone else tell me?"
The square became totally silent and they all looked toward the scene. Jill just ignored Berta for the most part, plucking the strings to make sure they were working and in tune.
"...stop dragging it out; just show everyone that you can't do it, and we can all go home!" Berta kept taunting.
Jill glared a little bit at Berta, but she still took her sweet time propping the violin onto her chin.
"...gettin' cold feet? Come on; get on with it!"
Jill shot one more glare at Berta…and then she struck the bow across the strings, beginning the song quickly and effortlessly. Everyone else totally became silent after that… and little Joy looked up at her mother in awe.
Even Berta seemed to lose her smug attitude when she heard the song.
"…you weren't kidding Sonia…" Ivory murmured, wide eyed.
"...told ya," Sonia mused with a snicker.
"...man... she's really into it..." Mia commented.
Jill continued to play without any care to the looks that everyone else was giving her…
…and her music started to carry out farther, and farther, across the town…
Farther away from Music Square, more and more Mobians started to hear the music…
"…hey Will, what's that?" Ed muttered, looking around.
"...sounds like violin music." Will commented.
"...someone's really gettin' into it." Marco mused.
"...you think we should check it out?" Will hummed, glancing back at Marco, Ed and Seymour.
"…sure, why not?" Seymour murmured, walking toward where the music was coming from…
"...hm?" Just as she lit her pipe, Hex glanced towards the open window. "...music...?"
Raider rolled over with a pained groan, but for the most part, he listened. "…yeah, sounds like music…"
Taking a drag from her pipe, Hex huffed. "...I suppose you could check it out." she mused, before she gave Raider a glare. "Just keep in mind; if you screw up again, I'll expect you to come back to receive your punishment of your own volition. Got that?"
"…fine…" groaned Raider, standing up from the bed weakly.
"...off with you, now." Hex scoffed, as she took another drag from her pipe, blowing out a thin cloud of smoke.
"King, is that music?" Hunter asked him.
"...yeah... sounds like it." King mused, blinking a bit. "...weird... where is it coming from?"
"…the only place I can think of is Music Square," Hunter said, raising his eyebrow.
"...but that's far away from here; we shouldn't be able to hear it just like that." King noted. "This is curious... I think we oughta check it out."
Back at Music Square, Mobians started to clap and dance nearby while Jill continued to play, and more Mobians came from the town to gather around to see what was going on.
Ivory looked around in amazement. "…she's really getting some attention…"
"...I'll say." Mia commented.
Joy continued to watch her mother in awe, mesmerized by the melody her mother was playing. But probably the most astounded one was Berta, who just looked at Jill with an absolutely stunned look. The other Mobians with instruments even moved themselves closer to Jill to join in and make the music bigger. The crowd cheered and even more of them started dancing around and clapping.
"…is that Jill?" Stella walked up to Ivory and the others, gawking at Jill.
"Sure enough, it is," Ivory said. Then she looked over at Berta with a chuckle. "What was that about a rookie screwing up, Berta?"
"...n-never mind..." Berta sputtered, before she quickly hid in the crowd; just to try to keep away from that group.
Stella blinked, and then looked back at Jill. "…she's amazing…"
"...I know, right?" Sonia mused with a smile.
"…her mother taught her well…"
Hearing that, Sonia shot Stella a glance. "...say what, now?" she uttered.
Stella looked back at Sonia, and started walking away from her. Sonia blinked, before she began following Stella. "Hold up..." Sonia ended up following Stella totally out of the crowd and almost away from Music Square when she finally caught up.
"...hey... Stella, how did you...?" Sonia began once she caught up to her, rubbing her head.
"How did I know?" Stella presumed, closing her eyes. "…Sage showed me…"
"...oh." Sonia blinked, before she folded her arms. "...that explains it... still, you shouldn't say things like that in a huge crowd; who knows who might hear it?"
"You're right…" Stella said, nodding. "…sorry…"
"Don't worry about it." Sonia hummed. "Just don't speak before you think."
"Right…" Stella looked out… and then her eyes widened. "What happened to him?"
Sure enough, they saw Raider walking their way, with bruises, black eyes, and a twisted arm. He stopped at the edge of the forest, looking at the accumulating crowd of people in the square.
Shooting a glance at him, Sonia narrowed her eyes. "...judging from the state he's in... he must've run into Spiel." she guessed.
"…he must have…" Stella murmured.
"What's all that music?"
"Oh Cowpoke, that's just Jill—Oh my! You've got a black eye too!" When Stella turned to see the hounds coming, she saw that Cowpoke had a huge black eye.
"Nothin' much; just got in a fight…" Cowpoke said, staring out towards where the crowd was. "…that's Jill?"
"...yeah." Sonia nodded, looking from Jill to Cowpoke.
"...she's pretty good." Merde noted.
"Yeah; she must've been practicing a whole lot." Rott nodded.
"…damn…" Smokey remarked.
Finally, Jill finished her song with one last strike on the strings, and when she opened her eyes again, they widened at the large crowd that so suddenly appeared and started to cheer.
"...now that's a large crowd." Merde mused.
Jill just blinked at everyone, and then she saw Joy who was giggling madly and clapping her hands so happily. It made her smile…
After a few more songs, the crowd eventually thinned out and all of the soldiers went to go do their own thing. Jill was able to relax and set the violin back down in it's case; hugging little Joy while she sat on her lap.
"That was beautiful playing," Stella commented, when she, the hounds, Sonia, Ivory, Brute and Mia walked up to her.
"Yeah, it certainly shut Berta up," Ivory said. "You can say all the tough words you want, but that, I have to admit, is the very first time anyone's really shut her up. I give kudos to you, Condit."
Jill would giggle if she could, and she nodded in appreciation.
"Seriously; good playing." Mia mused.
"You could actually do that sort of thing professionally." Rott suggested. "You really got the talent for it, at least."
Now Jill even blushed a little bit at that remark. Cowpoke chuckled at that, "Well now we've gone and made her blush," and when Jill looked over to him, her eyes widened at the black eye he had. She set Joy down and went to touch it worriedly. "Oh this?" Cowpoke asked. "Don't worry; just got myself in a fight…"
"...a fight, huh?" Sonia hummed. "When did that happen?"
"Some time last night." Rott hummed. "He came home looking like that."
Stella was very quiet, but she looked from Cowpoke, all the way over to Raider, wondering if there was a connection. Both of them were beaten up; Raider WAAAAY more beaten up than Cowpoke. Did something happen with Spiel?
"Anyway, I heard that Meta finally made a decision on what he's going to do," Cowpoke mentioned, stealing both Jill's and Stella's attention.
"...oh, yeah?" Sonia hummed, tilting her head. "What'd he decide on?"
"He's going to go back to the ARK with Proxy and Omega," Cowpoke said.
Stella's eyes widened. "He's going back?"
Cowpoke nodded.
"…why?" Stella asked.
"…not really sure why," Cowpoke said. "If you really want to know why, I suppose you can go ask him yerself…" Stella immediately turned around and started running off. "…huh?"
"Stella, wait!" Ivory called, but that didn't stop the bird.
"...why is she in such a hurry?" Mia blinked.
"…don't know…" Ivory murmured, and then she saw Jill pick up Joy and run after her as well. "…hey!"
"...geez... think we should follow her?" Mia groaned.
Sonia hummed, before she looked at Cowpoke, to see what he'd think.
"…if Meta's going back, then maybe we should," Cowpoke said. "It might mean that they're leaving…"
Stella ran all the way back to where the capsule had crashed, and sure enough, there was Proxy, Omega and Meta standing there. "Wait, don't go!" she called, stopping right next to them.
Blinking, Proxy glanced at Stella. "...what's wrong?" he hummed.
"I…didn't want you to go until…I got to see you…" huffed Stella, trying to catch her breath. "I've been thinking about this for a while and…"
…yes…go on, insisted Meta.
"…I wanna come with you…"
Silence.
"...seriously?" Omega uttered, looking at Stella in what could only be disbelief.
"Yes," Stella nodded, looking up at them with a smile.
…why? Meta asked.
"…I don't want to be in Safe Haven anymore…and there's nowhere for me to go to in the outside world," Stella said.
"...that's... sudden..." Proxy hummed, rubbing his neck.
"...living on the ARK could prove to be dangerous for you." Omega pointed out.
"Oh, it can't be as bad as Hex, certainly…" Stella said cheerfully.
No, he's right… Meta said. …there aren't just some experiments that can break out… but you're dealing with very advanced technology that is liable to malfunction at any time…
Stella just looked up at them, losing some of her cheerfulness…
"...if you go up there, you have work as best you can at all times." Omega noted. "Otherwise, you could end up severely injured, with only a few people able to heal you, in a potentially risky environment..."
Stella straightened up. "…I'd rather that… then being prone to experience Hex again…"
…you are very much afraid of her… Meta observed.
"...many of the island's inhabitants are afraid of her..." Proxy mused, folding his arms. "...still... this is a heavy decision. If there's even the slightest hint of doubt..."
Stella nodded. "I have no doubt whatsoever… after all, I'm not leaving anything behind…"
…no family… Meta murmured. …I am sorry to know what happened to them…
Stella looked down at the ground. "…don't be sorry…the only reason I joined Safe Haven was to get over what happened to them…."
"...what happened to them?" Omega hummed.
"…car accident in Future City," Stella murmured.
"...I see..." Proxy hummed, closing his eyes. "...my condolences."
Stella nodded in appreciation.
…even then, you still wish to come with us? Meta asked, getting another nod from Stella.
"...hrm..." Proxy hummed. "...I don't know... I don't think she's completely finished down here, yet." Then, he glanced behind Stella. "...isn't that right, you guys?"
Stella's eyes widened, and she turned around to see the group that had been at Music Square standing right there.
"…I guess if she really wanted to go, she would have to ask King," Ivory said.
"...true enough." Mia noted.
Stella sighed. "...so…I'd have to ask him…"
"...seems like it." Proxy hummed, before he smiled. "...but... I suppose we can hold off our launch until you've gotten clearance from him."
"…then I'll go look for him," Stella said with a nod.
"No need." They all turned and Hunter and King walked up to them.
"...so... you want to leave?" King hummed, as he looked at Stella, his arms folded.
"Uh…y-yes sir," Stella responded hastily.
"...you're absolutely dead-set on going through with it?" King hummed again, narrowing his eyes.
Stella's expression grew serious and she nodded.
"...I see..." King hummed, drumming his fingers against his arm.
Stella grew a bit nervous, wondering what King's answer would be, while the others just stood silently.
"...well..." King hummed, before he shrugged. "...at least say bye to those you wanna say bye to, first."
Stella blinked, to process what he just said… and her eyes widened. "…you…really mean it?"
"As long as you do what I just said, yes." King nodded, as he now smiled.
Stella smiled, and looked at everyone here. "…everyone I would ever want to say good bye to is standing here right now…"
Jill set Joy down so that Joy could toddle over and hug Stella's knees. "Stella go bye bye?" Stella looked down at the girl in surprise for uttering an actual sentence like that.
So she knelt down to Joy. "…yeah Joy…Stella's going bye bye." The next thing the bird knew, Joy wrapped her tiny arms around her and hugged her.
Folding her arms, Mia glanced to the side. "...you take care now, Stella..." she murmured.
"…yeah…be careful there," Ivory said with a nod.
Jill smiled and went up to Stella, hugging her as well. "…thank you…" Stella murmured, mostly to Jill. "…I hope you all take care of yourselves as well…"
"...we will." Sonia nodded. "Don't you worry about that."
Jill let go of Stella, and she turned to Cowpoke, who just stood there looking at Stella.
"…well…I suppose you should take care of you and your son…Cowpoke," Stella muttered a bit timidly toward the bloodhound.
"…yeah…you too," Cowpoke replied.
"...just stay safe, you hear?" Rott hummed.
"...yeah." Merde nodded.
Stella nodded, and then she watched Jill go over to hug Proxy. Proxy returned the hug. "...take care, now." he said. "Who knows; maybe I'll visit you again some time." Jill smiled and nodded, appreciating the thought.
With that taken care of, Meta entered inside the capsule, and when Stella saw that, she quickly accompanied. Omega followed them into the capsule, though before Proxy entered as well, he turned to the group, giving them a smile, nod and a wave. "...later."
Everyone replied with a nod, and watched them climb into the capsule; Stella looking out one of the windows at them. Eventually, the capsule flared to life, as it slowly, but surely shot up into the sky; soon becoming nothing more than a dot far above them.
"Bye bye!" called Joy waving her hand, while Jill picked her back up.
"...there they go..." King hummed, folding his arms.
"…wonder what they'll be doin' up there in that ARK," Cowpoke wondered.
"...who knows..." Sonia hummed.
"…well…I suppose we should just go back to whatever we were doing…" Ivory murmured.
"...seems like it..." Mia mused.
With that, Ivory, Mia and Brute walked away from the scene. Jill, meanwhile, held Joy while the two of them continued to look up at the sky.
"...they'll be fine." Sonia hummed, patting Jill's shoulder. "Don't you worry."
I'm sure they will, Jill thought with a smile.
That evening came where the full moon came out, and Cowpoke took that opportunity to sneak Jill out into the night. They sat down in an opening in the woods, hopefully a place where they wouldn't be disturbed by anyone or anything that might be wandering in the night. They sat together in content, just looking up at it.
"…this is the last moment we'd ever really have to ourselves…" Cowpoke murmured, and Jill nodded. "…I'm gonna miss ya Jill…"
Jill hugged Cowpoke back, nestling her head on his shoulder to look back up at the moon.
"…did you used to do this thing with Brick?" Cowpoke asked curiously, and Jill nodded again. "…what was Brick like, anyway?" Cowpoke asked again. "You said that I reminded you a lot of him…"
Jill pulled out her notepad to write. Brick was very bold, and strong-willed. He was also fairly smart, and he could figure things out pretty easily. I wouldn't expect anything else from someone that was the assistant to the Professor.
"…I guess I could imagine that," Cowpoke replied. "…you've really been through a lot Jill…I wish that things could've been a bit different… so you didn't have to lose so much…"
Jill's brows arched a bit. I appreciate the thought, Jill wrote, but to be honest…I don't think I'd ever really want to change anything about it…
Cowpoke's eyes widened when he read that. "…but…why?"
… because of the difference I made… Jill wrote. …we stopped a horrible monster from branching out into the world…and I would never give up meeting Metal or Brick or anyone for the sake of staying in that old village… it opened my eyes to everything around me that living in that village closed up to the rest of the villagers.
"…do you still think about him…?" Cowpoke asked, and when Jill grew bewildered, Cowpoke clarified; "…Metal I mean…"
Jill remained silent, (as if she really had any choice in the matter) and looked up to the moon.
…every day, she wrote. …I'll never forget what sacrifice he took…
"…do you think you'd be able to go back there and find him again?" Cowpoke asked, and Jill looked to the ground sadly.
…that's something I'm still wondering… she wrote back.
Cowpoke looked down at her with concerned and brushed back her hair. "…well…let's not worry about that tonight…I'm sure that when you go further on in the future…you'll find out if you'll face him again or not…" Jill nodded, and Cowpoke noticed a few tears roll down her face. Cowpoke wiped them up, and turned her sad eyes up to him. "…I'm sure he's still hanging in there…don't worry," he assured her.
Though to be honest, Cowpoke had no real way of knowing that or not… finding all this out was still a bit much for him, even now.
So Cowpoke just stroked her furry cheek with a thumb, hugging her. What surprised him though, was that Jill moved her head up, and kissed him on the lips.
…I know I'll see him someday… Jill thought, while they kissed under the moonlight. …I'm determined to make sure that he won't have to suffer for the rest of his life… Cowpoke wrapped his arms around Jill, pulling her closer to kiss her even more. Soon, the two got so lost in the make out that they forgot about everything else…
Finally, the day came… The ferry arrived to the docks, and all of the soldiers gathered there, creating a lot of noise and cheer for the soldiers that were embarking onto the ferry. They finally finished their year of training… and now, they were going back to the outside world to make something of themselves.
That meant saying goodbye to new friends…
"…well, I know you didn't expect me to say anything of the sort," Ivory said. "…but I hope to be seeing you again in the future, Condit…"
Jill nodded, holding Joy with her away from the crowd a bit, so she wouldn't get shoved.
"So Ivory, what're you and your friends going to do?" Hunter asked.
"Well…when I first got here, I wanted to be able to open a business to earn money and learn how to utilize my fighting style to beat out the competition literally," Ivory said. "…but now that I've finished…I want to start a more honorable business…Don't know what, yet, but I know we can figure it out from there…"
"...I'll stay with her to help her out as best I can." Mia hummed with a slight nod. "Don't really have anything else to do."
Jill nodded again. She looked around and saw others like Trish and Berta shoving off for the ferry.
"...a few of the trainees don't seem to have anyone to say bye to..." Sonia hummed, rubbing her chin as she glanced at some of the soldiers.
"I assume they got what they came here for…" Ivory mumbled. "…well…I guess we'd better go board the ferry too." She set her hands on Jill's shoulders. "…you take good care of Joy, you hear?"
And Jill nodded again, watching her, Brute and Mia walk toward the ferry.
"So long!" Sonia called to them with a wave.
"...same to you." Mia called back, as she glanced back at them with a wave whilst following Ivory and Brute.
"…Most of them did great, huh King?" Hunter said, looking over at the ferry.
"They certainly did." King mused with a chuckle, as he folded his arms. "They'll be just fine out there."
"…Hey…"
Jill turned around, and she saw just Cowpoke and Mud-Pie standing there. All of his friends weren't there though…
"…where's all your buddies?" Hunter asked.
"Saying most of their own goodbyes," Cowpoke said with a tip of his hat.
"Ah, I see..." King hummed, nodding.
"...it's gonna be kinda quiet without everyone around." Sonia hummed, folding her arms.
"Yeah, I bet," Cowpoke chuckled. Then he looked at Jill with a bit of a sad smile. Jill gave the same kind of smile back, setting down Joy to hug him, and Joy simultaneously toddled over to hug Mud-Pie.
"...you all take care, now." King said with a nod to Cowpoke.
"You too," Cowpoke nodded to King, after hugging Jill. Then he looked at her. "…boy…I'll sher miss ya…" he muttered.
"Bye bye Mud-Pie!" Joy said with a giggle, and Mud-Pie laughed a little bit.
Sonia couldn't help but smile a bit, as she looked at Jill.
Jill smiled a little bit, putting a hand on his cheek.
"…I'll take care o' me and Mud-Pie…" Cowpoke said. "…so you take good, extra care of Joy, 'kay?" Jill nodded at that, and went over to kiss Cowpoke on the cheek.
"Aaaw..." Sonia hummed.
"…I guess I'd better find my buddies and get aboard that ferry…" Cowpoke muttered.
"...yeah..." King hummed, rubbing his neck. "...be safe, and all that."
"I'll miss you guys," Mud-Pie said with a wave, while Cowpoke took his hand and the two of them walked away. Jill watched them walk away… of course, feeling a bit of disdain…
…even if things wouldn't have worked, and she still might not have been ready for a committed relationship again… she would still really miss Cowpoke.
"...we're all gonna miss him." Sonia hummed, as she looked at Jill.
Jill nodded a bit, looking down at Joy who kept waving her little hand. "Bye bye!" she called out.
"All Aboard! Last call for any soldiers that are leaving now!" called the one who drove the ferry.
Sonia glanced around at a few of the soldiers who were finishing their farewells, before they hurried towards the ferry. Jill watched the rest board, and that was just when she saw Cowpoke and his friends heading toward the ferry with packs over their backs.
Watching them go toward the ferry brought some flashbacks to Jill about how she first met these boys; defending her and baby Joy when she first arrived, making sure that they were alright…
…Jill's feet picked up before she could control herself, and she ran toward the crowd around the docks, leaving Joy behind with Sonia, King and Hunter.
"Jill?" Sonia called when she saw this.
Jill kept running, and Hunter just put his hand on her shoulder. "…it's hard for her to say goodbye to someone she cares about…" Hunter murmured. "...and well that's true for just about everyone else, it's especially hard for her..."
"...right..." Sonia hummed.
Jill pushed her way through the crowd, and just when Cowpoke was the last one to get on, he turned around and noticed Jill running right for him. He was shocked, especially when she broke free from the crowd finally and threw her arms around him. The soldiers around them cheered for them, cooed, or didn't give a crap about them.
"…I…bet it's really hard for you…huh?" Cowpoke murmured, hugging her back. Jill nodded, and when Cowpoke looked at her, he saw a few tears roll down Jill's face. "…remember what you told me?" Cowpoke said, putting a finger under her chin. "…even if things didn't work, we shouldn't have to shut ourselves up to everyone else around us…at least now…we might be able to get over the things that happened to us…"
Jill nodded in understanding, trying to wipe the tears away.
"…God…I would give anything to hear your voice one last time…" Cowpoke muttered, hugging Jill again tightly.
Everyone who were watching them were dead silent at the moment.
"…if…you're ever really ready…well…" Cowpoke grew a bit bashful. "…at least…keep in touch…ya know?"
Jill nodded… and then she pulled Cowpoke into a kiss, making the soldiers around them cheer and whistle.
"…well well…" Hunter chuckled in amusement.
Joy was covering her eyes at this. "Icky icky!"
Sonia giggled at Joy's reaction to that.
King just chuckled as well. "...that's adorable."
Jill finally pulled away, looking at Cowpoke's red face with a small smile, clearing his throat a little bit. "…I'll see ya…" he murmured, pulling away and heading onto the ferry. Thankfully, he was the last one too, and when he climbed aboard, the ferry bridge pulled up and the ferryman started it up.
King looked at the ferry with a slight nod, before his gaze turned to Jill.
The soldiers screamed excitedly when the ferry actually started moving, while Jill rushed to the very edge of the docks where the ferry was leaving. Mud-Pie and Cowpoke pushed their way through those on the ferry, and started waving back to Jill while the ferry slowly took off…
…Jill waved back.
King smiled a bit at that, folding his arms.
Goodbyes sure are hard, huh? :(