On his bed, junior tired to move his body, but it was no use. It was too painful for him to move, and he didn't want to risk another internal bleed. Tulip slept peaceful, rested her head on the side of the bed, while Aggie slept soundly on a floating pink cotton candy cloud as she snored loudly. Since his two girls were sleeping, he decided to sleep as well. He didn't take much energy inside him anyway. Just that, he didn't want to think something about, but it was already on his mind.
Ever since he was a little hatchling, Junior was a tiny stork entered the office. His little wings were not ready for flying yet, and he has big cute eyes (like young Dory's [from Finding Dory] eyes.) He looked around and saw his father, sticking his phone on his ear. Junior ran towards him, and tugged at his suit. "Daddy?"
The older stork seemed to be a bit annoyed. He turned off his phone, and looked down at the little stork. "Junior, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't interrupt me while I'm at work! What do you want?"
Little Junior took out a picture from his back, and showed it to his dad. "I made a picture for you." He handed Hunter the paper with a colorful and kiddie drawing. A bigger stork with a suit held down a baby stork.
Hunter cleared his throat and smiled awkwardly. "Thank you, I guess. It's a good drawing." He hid the paper in his suit.
Few years later, things had not change much. Hunter had become a bit more forgetful for Junior as he grew.
Junior's wings are ready to fly as he can fly all the way to his school without his father by his side. He didn't even make his son's breakfast. As Junior flew, he almost hit by an airplane as he flew down, and accidentally crashed on a tree.
"Ow! My wing!" He cried as he lowered himself slowly to the ground, and grasped his wing tightly.
Suddenly, a girl, who looked like a 8-year-old with short black hair, wore white clothes, and large translucent fairy-like wings, strolled around until she found Junior.
"Oh no." The girl gasped, knowing that the little stork was injured, and quickly approached him. "Are you okay, little guy?"
"My wing! It hurts!" Junior sobbed as he looked at his injured wing.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of you." The girl said as she took out a first-aid kit from her bag, took out bandage from the kit, and wrapped it around Junior's wing. "Here you go. It was a small injury, so you'll be flying anytime soon."
"But I better go to school." He said.
"I'll take you there. Come on." The girl held little Junior in her arms, and find his school.
Just a few blocks away, they found his school. Junior thanked the girl, and went inside.
When Junior reached adolescence, Hunter became strict to him, and trained him to call him his name, not 'dad' anymore as Junior got use to it. Hunter let his son work in his company, but he still hasn't spent time with his son.
Maturity started when innocence goes away, and by the time Junior realized that there was very little love for him, 'dad', 'daddy', became 'Hunter', even thought in his mind, he still wanted to bond with him. All he wanted to hear a compliment or an invitation to hang out. But no, all the invitations he got from his father were for Chairmen reunions. That was the time Junior stopped chasing after his father and started to study hard so he could earn his father's compliment.
The dreams of finally being a worthy son to an arrogant father were gone the moment Hunter tried to kill him, Diamond Destiny, Tulip... and now, with Aggie.
Junior's eyes opened and let out a small sob. He had to let go of the past. But there was only one way for him to do so.
When he woke up, Tulip and Aggie woke up too.
"Junior, are you okay?" Tulip asked.
"I'm fine, really." Junior sighed, then turned to Tulip and Aggie. "Can you guys help me for just once?"
Junior quietly walked to the elevator in painful gasp while Tulip and Aggie accompanied him. Junior didn't want to go alone, so he wanted his friends to come with him. His wing still hurt like a pain in the neck or rather wing, and his stomach are was still pretty patched up from the operation. The only one he had to worry about was the doctor and how he was going to explain that his most important patient was gone to who knows where.
When they entered the elevator, Aggie pushed the down button, and the elevator closed. "Are you sure you have to do this? He almost killed us! He almost killed you!"
"For just a moment, Aggie." Junior held a wing on her. "I promise."
"It better be. I was only trying to protect you." She added.
When they reached the level, they walked out of the elevator, and passed by the guards. "Just five minutes."
The guards nodded, and let the trio through.
The temporary prison has just one cell, since no one committed crimes in Stork Mountain..., until now.
He held close a picture of his childhood, one where his father gave him a piggy-back ride when he was a young hatchling. He took a deep breath and slowly opened the door.
It was not hard to forget Hunter, with him being a big stork and all. The penguins were not here as Aggie's penguin friends, Skipper, Skenda, and the rest of the penguin family, boxed them, and sent them to Madagascar. Hunter had his head hanging low, looking at an old piece of paper.
He looked up when he heard Junior's panting. He placed the paper back on his suit, and looked at the younger stork through the cage bars. "Junior... oh." Then, he saw Tulip and Aggie beside him. Tulip just stared at him with no emotion, but on the inside, she was angry, sad, and afraid, while Aggie sharply glared at him as she punched her palm, wanting to punch him on the face.
"Hunter." Junior greeted with no emotion at all.
"I take it." Hunter sighed. "I will be taken to jail tomorrow."
"Yes, you will." Junior glared at him.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be resting?"
"Oh, so now you're concern of him?!" Tulip interrupted, placing her hands on her hips.
"Since when do you care about his well-being?" Aggie scoffed. "Maybe you want to feel my fist!"
"Aggie." Junior blocked Aggie with his good wing.
"I always cared, Junior." Hunter looked concerned.
"It never seemed like it!" Junior snapped.
Hunter looked at Junior's appearance and instantly regretted what he had done to him, even if he didn't show it. Bruises covered him from head to toe, some feathers were missing, a large patch had been placed around his stomach, some feathers had some dried blood and his broken wing was casted and his legs wouldn't stop trembling. Luckily, he has his girlfriend and assistant to help him. Hunter had always seen him as a clean young stork and full of energy, but now he saw a tired and sad one. It had never been his intention for Junior to be hurt. He still couldn't shake the image of Junior coughing blood in the middle of the crowd, then simply falling unconscious, and he and tulip fell of the building, until Aggie saved them. It was very disturbing.
"Does it hurt?" Hunter asked a dumb question that he knew Junior's wing does hurt.
Either way, junior answered, "You have no idea..."
"'Does it hurt?'? 'DOES IT HURT?'?!" Aggie chuckled sarcastically like crazy, then shouted. "You stepped on his wing, stupid! ON PURPOSE!"
"Agatha." The young stork calmed her down. "It's just me and Hunter now. You and Tulip should go outside and wait for me."
"And leave you here with him? Please."
"Aggie, as your boss and my assistant, I ordered you to take Tulip with you, go outside, and wait for me."
Honestly, as his assistant, Aggie never wanted to leave junior with his evil father, but it's also her job to obey him. "Fine." She rolled her eyes, and guided Tulip outside. "But I'll warn you, I have spying magic. I can see through walls. I'm watching you." She said before she and Tulip went outside, and slammed the door close.
Both storks stayed silent until Hunter broke it up.
"I gotta hand it to you. Your assistant is very aggressive."
Junior ignored that statement. "Why did you do all this?"
Hunter couldn't bear to look at his son in the eyes.
"Look at me, dad! Why?" Junior yelled, but hunter remained silent. "Why did you do all of this?! Why would you try and restore a life you yourself destroyed?! Why did you kidnap an innocent family and hurt another one?! Why did you want to kill Tulip?! Why did you want to hurt Aggie? She was very innocent. She wasn't here those times. You almost destroyed lives in one day!" His anger changed into sob. "Most of all, why weren't you there when I needed you the most?!" That question was the only one that Junior wanted to spill it out. "All I want was my father by my side, that's the real reason why I wanted to be boss! To make you proud, but it didn't work! Just why? Why would you want to kill me?"
Hunter noticed the tears from his son's eyes when he closed them and let them rolled down his cheeks. He looked away, and answered. "I admit it! I was so consumed by work and my desire to keep up my company that I was blinded. But the point is... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I tried to kill the babies, Orphan tulip, your little assistant, and most of all, I'm sorry I tried to kill you above anyone else. I'm so sorry that I was never there for you when you needed me the most. I'm sorry that I put my work before you and our family, that I never realized the kind of stork you had become. I'm sorry I didn't appreciate you enough to allow you to call me 'father'. Honestly, I didn't realize that until now. I'm sorry that I never gave you the love you deserved or the father you always wanted... I'm very proud of what you have become without my help. And your mother would be proud of you." That was the last explanation that Hunter confessed as he quietly sobbed.
At this point, Junior couldn't contain silent tears as he sobbed so hard it made his chest hurt.
Tulip and Aggie watched and heard the father-and-son conversation with Aggie's spying magic, which she was not suppose to cast, so she'll permanently remove that magic from her body later, and they secretly cried too with tears formed in their eyes. They also noticed that the two stork guards beside them sniffed of crying as well.
"Why are you crying at?!" Aggie shouted as the guards startled in fear.
"Nothing!" One of the guards said as he stood up straight again, "Just nothing."
"There's just something on my eye." The other guard lied.
"You better be." Aggie growled as she and Tulip continued to spy on the two storks inside.
"That's all I ever wanted to hear..." Junior sobbed. "All I ever wanted was to hear that you were proud of me." He cried as tears fell freely and hit the floor. "I want to forgive... but, I just can't. At least, not yet..." He looked at his father deadly in the eyes. "You tried to kill the love of my life. That's is unforgettable and unforgivable. I don't let anyone to hurt Tulip."
"So, you and Tulip, huh?" Hunter sighed. "I should have seen it coming a mile away."
"It just sort of happened. Thanks to my new loyal friend and assistant, Aggie." Junior changed the topic. "You tried to kill her too, even though she wasn't here before and never knew about what happened. Agatha was the only one who helped with my problems, and she was been a good friend to anyone and me. She was also there for me when I need help, unlike what you did to me before! When my wing got hurt, you didn't have a chance to heal me or comfort me! The only one who did it was the girl who..." Junior stopped right there when he remembered the 8-year-old girl with black hair, white dress, and large fairy-like wings on her back. She was similar to Aggie's appearance. Which means... "Aggie was that girl." He whispered to himself.
Then, Hunter interrupted. "You're very lucky to have a friend like her."
"Yes, yes I am." The young stork answered.
His father looked down. "I guess this is goodbye, then."
Junior finally gathered up the courage to get closer to the cage. The picture he had before was slipped between the bars. "Prison allows to keep photos."
Hunter took the picture and carefully pulled it from his son's wing. "Thanks."
Junior nodded and quickly turned away. He walked away with a small limp, but still proudly held his head. Until he forgot something. "Oh, and by the way, my assistant wanted to give you this." He revealed a plate, and he let it slipped towards Hunter, revealing a piece of ube cake (from the Philippines). After that, he walked away again, realizing he had just confronted his past so he could continue with his future. He didn't spare one last look at his father, ending once and for all whatever relationship he ever had with his father.
While seeing watching through Aggie's spying magic, Tulip, Aggie, and the guards noticed Junior coming as they quickly fix themselves, and wiped the tears from their eyes before Junior came out, and shut the door.
"You have watched, didn't you?" He asked, but no one answered. Junior knew Aggie used her magic to watch them. Instead of being angry at her, he patted Aggie's head with his good wing. "Thanks for watching over me." Then, he turned to Tulip with a weak smile. "Let's go I think we're done here."
Back at the cell, Hunter sighed as he took a piece of cake, sliced it with his feathers, and ate a bit. It was good, but he didn't have the cravings to finish it. He took the old piece of paper from his pocket. It was an old child drawing Junior made for him when he was a hatchling, when he could still see the admiration in his son's eyes. He placed the picture inside it and covered it with the drawing. Without no one hear or see him, he finally broke down in tears. He looked up outside the window, and into the night, he thought of his wife. "What have I done?" He sobbed.
"So, what did he say?" Tulip asked, helping him walk towards the elevator.
Junior frowned and looked down. "Nothing that would change anything."
"Oh, Junior."
At least I know that I faced the questions I've been putting aside for too long.
"We should go back quickly before the doctor finds out you're gone." Aggie suggested as she pushed the 'up' button.
"Yeah, I'm pretty tired, and I'm sure you girls are too." Junior chuckled.
"Nah. I'm not really tired." Aggie said.
"Even though you hated Hunter, and you wanted to punch him like that, you still have a big heart, Agatha." Junior smiled proudly. "You gave him a cake."
"That's what I am. I've done that sometimes." She shrugged.
Junior's suspicions were correct. Aggie was that girl who healed him when his wing hurt years ago. He just smiled, but he won't tell Aggie yet. Of course, for an 8-year-old turned 22, she can't refresh her memory that far.
"I'm not really tired, Junior." Tulip yawned. "You need rest."
"Maybe... we could share a bed?" Junior suggested, but felt stupid about it.
Aggie's mind dinged like a bell as she scolded, "Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I know I'm not your parent, but you can't share a bed. No!"
"Oh, come on, Aggie. Just once." Tulip begged.
"NO! I'm not letting you guys. Since when did you ever learn that?" Aggie stamped her foot, and cried like a baby as the elevator opened and she ran towards the opened elevator. "You guys are disgusting!"
Junior chuckled. "She really wants to be a child again."
"Tell me about it." Tulip rolled her eyes. "She's such a childish girl." Then, they entered the elevator.
Wow, that's worth of writing. So what do you think? I'm almost finish with this story. One chapter left and it's all finish. By the way, I was inspired by cinderashes123 and his/her own Storks story from wattpad. That's why I made my own since he/she didn't finish his/hers. Anyway, review.
Note: Ube is called purple yam. Ube cake is one of the most popular flavor of cake, especially in the Philippines. I hope you tried that flavor.
One question: Do I have to make a wedding in the last chapter or not?