Hey, readers! This chapter references the episode 'Princess Triana and the Ogre of Castlebum.'

Foreword:

This week my wireless internet went down and my dad had to finagle a wired connection in order to get us back online. I wish I could've posted this earlier today. I already feel like I had to rush it out and I wish I could've proofread it more and put more thought into the author's notes. :( Maybe I'll publish some updates in the near future, but for now, the show must go on! Apologies in advance if the next chapter is late. I don't see myself having much time to work on the story in the coming week. T-T

Exculpate [ek-skuhl-peyt] – to clear from a charge of guilt or fault; free from blame; vindicate.

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The crackle of electricity stopped all at once, and WordGirl gingerly opened her eyes. Looming in the tree up above her, Tobey stood with his finger on a button. Like the claw hovering before her face, all the spark had drained right out of him. He looked utterly defeated, even though he'd won the battle by a mile.

WordGirl's heart thundered in her chest as she watched him. Her hands clenched into useless fists and her whole body tensed with fear. Her limbs were still strapped harshly against the cold metal and began to ache from the pressure of the robot's iron grip on her wrists and ankles. Tobey had her almost literally on a silver platter, but had stopped just short of finishing her off. The question remained, however, of what he would do now.

Head hanging low, he pushed another button on his remote, and the robot released her. She gasped in relief and jetted off into the night, caving to the fight-or-flight instinct that consumed her mind in that moment. Her emotions were going haywire. She felt hurt, betrayed, confused… but mostly afraid. She could still hardly believe what Tobey had almost done.

She had to get away. Get as far from him as possible before he… changed his…

Her pulse slowed as the rush of the battle faded behind her, and she stopped. Breath panting, heart pounding, she paused to think for a moment. What had happened just now? None of it made sense. Tobey was fine only yesterday… She'd thought so, at least. Obviously she had been wrong, but this? This was beyond a simple temper tantrum over a routine offense. This had to be something deeper.

Again she was reminded of the day he'd nearly attacked Megahard Industries, and the same bizarre instinct entered her mind, challenging her to defy reason and do something that she knew wasn't smart. She couldn't help it, though. Just like back then, she just had an uncanny feeling that Tobey needed her, now more than ever. Something was horribly wrong, and a soft but desperate voice inside her insisted that if she failed Tobey in this critical moment, he would be lost forever.

No, her heart cried out. No, I can't let that happen!

Reason came back with a vengeance, accompanied by the mortal fear that had seized her in the same instant as Tobey's robot. She couldn't go back to him! He nearly killed her!

But… he didn't.

He beat her into the ground and frightened her within an inch of her life!

But… he let me go.

He was more volatile right now than she'd ever seen him before. If she went back to him, there was no telling what he might do.

But if I don't go back, she considered with tears in her eyes, I know exactly what he'll do.

If she didn't go to him, he would give up hope. If she wasn't there for him, he would be alone again, just like he was when he first became a villain. If she left him, he would close his heart to the light and remain in darkness forever… and Dr. Two-Brains' disturbing prophecy would be fulfilled.

And then something strange occurred to her—the scene at the end of Princess Triana and the Ogre of Castlebum, when Triana had kissed the ogre's cheek and he had transformed into the lost Prince Vanlandingham. Becky knew it was only a fairy tale, but that scene had moved her so. The way the Princess had shown such great faith and kindness to a creature that everyone feared… The way she had seen through his hideous disguise to the true heart underneath…

WordGirl swallowed, blinking away her tears and clenching a fist over her wavering heart. She was still terrified—still inflamed with physical pain and emotional trauma from Tobey's attack. Yet even so… she knew that she couldn't abandon him.

He was a villain, and he was a delinquent, and he had done far more harm than good since the day he was born, but somehow none of that mattered. In spite of everything stacked against Tobey, she cared about him. She would never forgive herself if he fell prey to evil because of her cowardice. If there was any chance at all that she could save him, she had to.

Drawing a deep breath and summoning the last of her courage, she flew back to the devastated patch of forest where she had fought the Visceratron.

And there she saw Tobey, sitting alone in the same spot in the same tree where she had found him before the fight. Face downcast, he was almost still and nearly silent. The only sound he made was a faint whimpering that she wouldn't have even been able to detect if not for her super-hearing. The only movement he made was a slight trembling of his shoulders that racked through his small body until even his feet quivered as they dangled toward the ground below.

Near the base of the tree WordGirl saw the Visceratron laying derelict in the spot where it had threatened to destroy her. The remote that controlled it rested in Tobey's lap in a loose, shuddering grip. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a tiny droplet splash against the red attack button.

Swallowing nervously, she floated down to him and hovered at what she hoped was a safe distance. "Tobey…?"

He didn't move, or even acknowledge that she was there, except for a nigh imperceptible tightening of his fingers around his remote.

WordGirl steeled her nerves and drifted a little closer. Her voice sounded so soft and weak to her own ears that she wondered if he could even hear her. "Tobey, talk to me… Please?"

At last the boy stirred, swallowing a sob and raising up a hand to cover the one part of his face that she could see.

"It feels like I'm losing everything," he said hopelessly. His voice was weak and hollow, but genuine—like he had completely exhausted his strength to keep up even the most basic of pretenses. "Everything that defines me is just... slipping away. I don't even know who I am anymore."

WordGirl's eyes stung and she shuddered. "Tobey…"

"Congratulations, you were right," he snapped bitterly, looking up at her. She was shocked to see the frustration in his eyes and the streams of tears trailing down his cheeks. "There's nothing for me if I stay a villain…" He bit his lip, and his countenance broke with sorrow. He couldn't completely restrain a pained sob as he once more turned his eyes to the ground and vehemently blasted, "But there's nothing for me if I give it up, either! If I stop being a villain everything will go back to the way it was before I mattered, and who would I be then?"

WordGirl felt a bead of moisture trickle down her own cheek, and she wrenched her eyes away from Tobey. She couldn't stand to see him like this. It was so… wrong. She never imagined she would miss the arrogance or fake accent that usually marked his voice. He didn't sound like himself.

But then… who was she to think that? What did she honestly know about who Tobey really was? To her it felt strange just hearing him talk at length without his British accent, even though she knew it wasn't real. In a way, he'd been putting forth his own false persona since they'd met—to protect himself.

Like she did with WordGirl.

Sniffling and wiping her eyes, she put on a brave smile and closed the distance between them, seating herself on the branch right beside him.

"Let me ask you something," she said. "Who would I be if I stopped being a hero?"

He spared her a quizzical look, and the emotion in his voice steadied as he matter-of-factly replied, "You'd be Becky Botsford."

"Exactly," she exclaimed, trying her best to put on an optimistic smile. "So who would you be if you stopped being a villain?"

He stared at her for a long moment, his pensive expression steady, but made no effort to reply. Finally, both to break the silence and lighten the mood, she playfully said, "Starts with a 'T.'"

Tobey frowned at her and took a sharp, flustered breath. "But it's different for you! There's a clear line between WordGirl and Becky Botsford. I don't know anything else! Before I was a villain I was… nobody."

His eyes seized shut and he looked away, continuing in a broken voice. "I was nothing… to anyone. I was certainly nothing to you. If I hadn't become a villain, I would still be nothing to you. What would I be to you if I stopped being your enemy?"

With a heavy heart WordGirl watched him hang his head, tears still streaming down his face. She took a breath, then softly, sincerely answered, "My friend."

Tobey's expression changed in an instant—eyes gaping in surprise as all other emotions drained from his face. He swallowed, and slowly turned his head. His eyes when they met hers were filled with a hopeful yearning that was almost palpable. "You… want to be my friend?"

WordGirl let loose a carefully measured giggle and said, "Tobey, I would love to be your friend."

Then, without sparing the time to second-guess herself, she leaned in close and gathered him into a tight hug.

His whole body went stiff at her touch. For a moment he stopped breathing, but the frantic beating of his heart reassured her that he was definitely still alive. After a short moment his breath found him again, coming in sharp, uneven gasps. She was about to pull away and ask him if he was all right, when he unfroze and eagerly returned her embrace. His unsteady fingers cleaved to the fabric on the back of her costume, and a brief moment later she heard the distant sound of his remote hitting the ground far below.

And suddenly, she remembered what his mother had said—so long ago, it seemed—about how in calm, happy moments she could see in him a different person, from before his villain days. For the first time, WordGirl could see it too. Somehow she sensed that the boy in her arms was not the same Tobey who had tried to dominate and defeat her countless times, but rather a strange, lonely child who was afraid, vulnerable… sweet, even.

Once again, her paradigm was shifting. Her whole perception of Tobey was changing. He wasn't a villain to her anymore, he was a boy genius. He wasn't a destructive headcase, he was a brilliant inventor. And it was clear to her now that all of his outbursts and tantrums and threats had really been the desperate cry of a lost soul who no one—not even he himself—truly understood. She had a feeling that, even with her best efforts, she could never completely understand him. Even so, she really wanted to try.

"Let me define you." she whispered softly in his ear. "Just for a little while, until you're ready to take over for yourself… Okay?"

She waited for Tobey's answer. None came, except for a pained whimper as he held her even tighter.

In that moment the heartfelt words of none other than Princess Triana came back to her, filled with a passion that her mind's ear had never quite heard before.

"Can you not see who he truly is," she had said, "and that he is in terrible pain?"

As WordGirl pulled away from Tobey and watched him frantically wipe his eyes, she couldn't help but smile and think that, just maybe, there was a lost prince in there after all.

Swallowing her pride, she said with a snap of her fingers, "Oh! I have to give you a reward for not destroying me."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Tobey said awkwardly, waving her off and shaking his head. "I never really wanted to—"

He went dead silent and stiff as a board when she leaned in close, and softly kissed his warm, tear-stained cheek. A split-second later she pulled back, tasting salt on her lips, and fixed her eyes on his face. His stupefied expression might have made her laugh if it didn't look as though he were about to cry again. He remained silent, and she did likewise, until at last he tore his gaping eyes away from her. Staring instead out at the twilight on the horizon, he swallowed and let out a faint, shuddering breath.

Repressing an amused chuckle, WordGirl took to the air and hovered just in front of him, reaching out a friendly hand.

"Come on, Tobey," she encouraged softly. "Let's go home."

He hesitantly lifted his head up and met her smile with the most sincere and vulnerable expression she had ever seen. His mouth hung partly open and his round eyes sparkled with new tears. For a moment he didn't move. Then at last he bit a trembling lip, and slowly reached for her hand.

As their fingers touched, the first rays of dawn lit up the morning sky.

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Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

— 1 Peter 4:8

*melts into a warm, fluffy puddle* I kind of wish there weren't so many loose ends to tie up, because that last part would have been the perfect way to end it. :3 Alas, I have far too much fun with denouement, so I'll be back for more in a week or two. XD

Author's Notes:

-When Morning Comes— And now you know what inspired the cover art for the story! XD Yeppers, that scene where Becky reaches her hand out to Tobey as he sits in the tree is what I had in mind when I commissioned my sister to draw that picture. If you look carefully, you can see in the picture that Tobey is just starting to reach out his own hand. :3

-Tobey and Becky Sittin' in A Tree... — You have no idea how much I agonized in the planning stages of this fanfic over whether or not to have Becky actually kiss Tobey at the end there. DX As much as I loved the significance and sweetness of it, it just seemed soooo OOC, even at this point in the story. It's just not the kind of thing Becky would even think to do on her own, I mean… she's 12! No to mention she isn't the least bit attracted to him right now, especially after what just happened. I knew right away that if this kiss was going to happen, it needed to be motivated by pity rather than affection and inspired by some external source rather than her own feelings. It was starting to look like I wouldn't be able to make it work, and then I thought of the Princess Triana Parallel. I thought, if Becky could actually connect Tobey to the Ogre of Castlebum, then the emotions she already associates with that story in tandem with her heartfelt desire to help Tobey just might be enough to motivate that kiss. X3 I don't know how well I was able to pull it off, but hopefully it at least doesn't come off as ridiculously OOC. For those who need a reminder, 'Princess Triana and the Ogre of Castlebum' is an in-universe novel that was introduced in the episode of the same title. At the end of the book the heroine Princess Triana defeats the ogre by kissing him on the cheek, which turns him back into the long-lost Prince VanLandingham. My novelization of this scene from the book was shown in chapter 4, and you guys might be interested to know that I wrote it for the specific purpose of foreshadowing Becky's kiss in this chapter. ;)

-Theme Song: "Sound the Bugle" by Bryan Adams— I see this song almost like a narrative covering the climax of the story. It starts two chapters ago, with Tobey sitting alone in in that tree, feeling like all is lost and accepting in his heart that there's no hope for him. It progresses gradually into this chapter, when he opens up about how he's feeling to WordGirl. Then, in the bridge, her encouragement finally cuts through his despair and rekindles his drive to conquer his problems and life life to its fullest. T-T

-Theme Song: "Start Over" by Royal Tailor— This is Becky's heartfelt appeal to Tobey. She's asking him to step out in faith, let go of the past, and trust that she'll be there to help him through it.

-Theme Song: "The Eleventh Hour" by Jars of Clay— This is the subconscious plea that Tobey's heart has been screaming all this time, finally coming to the surface. It's him accepting that he wants to change, asking her to help him change, and at long last believing that she isn't going to abandon him when he does. :3

-Theme Song: "Winds of Change" by Kutless— This right here is a thing of beauty. I don't think I need to explain a thing. ;)