Chapter 12: Goodbyes

Gumball had spent the rest of the day with his family, enjoying the night at the fair to its fullest while keeping his sad truth a secret, which was the truth of what he was going to do tomorrow. He was unsure if he should tell them or not. It could be better if he didn't. Gumball, Darwin and Nicole were at a game where they had to shot bb bullets at moving targets. "So honey, you said we wouldn't have to worry about you going on missions anymore. Does that mean you're going to quit?" Nicole asked while Gumball and Darwin were side by side, with their bb rifle aiming at the targets.

"No, I'm not going to quit," Gumball answered saddening his brother and mother while Darwin fired at a moving plane with a bb bullet. It missed, but he kept shooting. Eventually he found out that he had used all his shots and missed every one. "I'm done after this mission, simple as that. It's like getting fired but it's not," Gumball implied. This made them happy, glad that he was going to be done with aliens from now on. They saw him star shooting and hitting the targets in a row, one after another. Every shot hit the targets and made them fall off. Nicole and Darwin were clapping, being impressed by the young feline's skills.

The worker of the booth gave Gumball thirty tickets and he put them away sighing tiredly. "I just can't wait to have you back at home dude. It's been boring without you!" Darwin claimed. Gumball looked up at his mother questioning if she had the same thoughts.

Nicole nodded at Gumball. It had been boring without much to fix or clean without her son around to cause his usual antics. She never thought she would admit to miss coming home to a severely damaged house and fixing it. Gumball chuckled while looking back on the memories, unable to prevent himself from shedding a tear before beginning to laugh happily. Afterwards he just sighed while they continued wandering the fair, playing multiple games along the way.

Eventually, they met up with Richard and Anais. "How'd it go for you guys?" Richard asked so far enjoying the night as well since he had a more childish mindset. "I got fifty tickets," Gumball said. "I got twenty," Darwin said happily. "I got thirty," Anais said yawning tiredly from all of the games she had already played.

"Hey that's great! Forty more and you can get that big daisy plushy," Nicole claimed making the little pink rabbit sigh. She thought that she wouldn't be able to get it before the fair closed. "Here ya go," Gumball said giving Anais his bunch of tickets. "No, Gumball, I don't need any help getting it," she tried to return his kind offer but he refused to take them back. "I don't need 'em. Come on, let's just go play!" Gumball exclaimed before going on with Darwin and Anais. Nicole and Richard smiled at the sight. "It's like we're a family again," Richard declared happily since his son was back.

Meanwhile, Penny was arriving home before the rest of her family like usual. She dug around the mailbox and pulled out the mail like she normally did. She looked through the letters and found one that didn't have a stamp on it and was simply a blank envelope. Once she went inside she put the rest of the mail on the kitchen table, opened up the blank letter and started reading it. "Dear Penny, I thought I'd leave you this in case something happens to me. I've loved you since I first saw you. I doubt I was a good boyfriend. But-light-shown-me-vanished-won't-again. I love you. From Gumball." Penny looked at it confusedly since it was getting dark. She sighed worriedly and decided to go see if Gumball was alright. She left her house immediately to look for him.

At Rachel's house, Rachel was lying on her bed on the computer, just watching videos out of boredom until she heard a knock on her open door and saw Tobias standing there. "What do you want, Tobias?" she asked, disliking it when he entered her room. "You got a letter from Gumball," Tobias claimed and threw the open envelope on her bed. "Why'd you open it if it was for me then?" she irritably asked while picking it up. It was a completely blank envelope. "Because it didn't say who it was for on the front," he answered before leaving.

Rachel opened the letter and looked over it. "Dear Rachel, I thank you a lot for listening to me when I was upset, for helping bandage up some of my injuries when I got back from a bad mission, for being there when I needed you. Your one of my best friends, and I thank you. The-helpers-that-should-have-on-has-and-shine. From Gumball," the letter read. Rachel just questioned what it meant just sighing "well may as well go see him" she told herself since she was bored out of her mind getting up and leaving her home leaving into the dark night trying to figure out what the gibberish at the end of the letter meant

Next morning, Gumball was waking up from his slumber. He yawned and looked out the window. It was not too late but Anais and Darwin were already asleep due to the fair. A huge Daisy the Donkey plush doll was lying in the corner which Anais had gotten with the tickets. Gumball pulled out his cellphone and dialed someone. He held it up to his ear. "Hello? Yeah, I'm ready. You're right around the block, right?" Gumball asked while talking on the phone, getting his pair of sunglasses and putting them on, then taking his handgun from his bag and putting it on his side. He hung up his phone and tilted his head down. "…I'll miss you two," Gumball said. A feeling of sorrow had just started building up as he began making his way downstairs.

Rachel was arriving to Gumball's home when she saw Penny there to. "Oh, hey Penny. What are you doing here?" she asked. "I could ask you the same thing," Penny responded while they glared at each other. "I got his odd letter," Rachel reluctantly answered first, showing the letter to her. "I got one too," Penny said, but they noticed something while showing the letters to each other. The nonsensical gibberish at the endings made an odd sentence. "But the helpers' light that should have shined on me has vanished, and won't shine again." After they read it, they both knocked on the door in desperate worry.

Though the two girls got no answer, they saw the limo coming by. Gumball was riding inside, but he was feeling depressed. When he saw Penny and Rachel, he immediately looked at the driver. "Stop the car!" he shouted. The driver nodded, obeying his order and slamming on the break. Gumball rolled down the window slightly and saw Penny and Rachel approaching. "Hey…" he simply said keeping his sunglasses on so they couldn't see how upset he really was.

"What's going on, Gumball?" Penny demanded an answer claiming that she had gotten the letter. "I'm going on my last mission. It's gonna be big, and I just was worried about not telling you my true feelings," Gumball explained why he had left the letters. Rachel tried to open the limo door but it was locked. "You don't have to go. Just give up this stupid government stuff already. One mission doesn't matter," she said but she heard a sniffle come from Gumball. "I-it does… I'll see you two around." he said. The girls saw tears coming from under his sunglasses as the limo driver just floored it and continued driving. Penny and Rachel were just standing there awe stricken by this.

End of Chapter 12