Chapter 35: Farewell

A/N: Another evil twist you weren't expecting. Just you wait, it gets even dicier.

Bow Kid woke up with a sigh. Normally she'd be happy after a good night's sleep but she hardly slept and what little sleep she did have was not peaceful in the slightest. She dragged herself out of bed and got ready, then jumped down to Alpine Skyline.

An Alpiner was waiting uncomfortably for her when she landed, and she noticed this. "What's wrong?" Bow Kid asked nervously.

"Eh, nothing, really," was the nomad's uncertain response. Bow Kid didn't believe this in the slightest and stomped off. "Wait!"

Between her and the makeshift hospital where Hat Kid was resting, a goat was there. Bow Kid was able to sidestep around the giant and look inside the building, and her heart dropped at the sight.

The medics had grave looks on their faces and looked down in a mourning fashion, and one slowly walked over to the side and grabbed a tarp, and put it over Hat Kid, who wasn't moving. Bow Kid stomped inside. "What is this?!" She demanded, and the lead medic gave her a look of surprise and sadness.

"Y-you aren't supposed to be here," The medic replied shakily.

"I'm not going to ask again. What is this?" Bow Kid asked again, and the medic shook their head somberly.

"We did everything we could, but it wasn't enough," The medic said. "I'm sorry."

"No, it can't be!" Bow Kid stammered. She ran over to Hat Kid's side and checked her pulse and breathing. Nothing. "No..." She buried her head in her late captain's shoulder and began sobbing uncontrollably. "I didn't even get to say farewell," She said quietly, and the lead medic approached her and put their hand on her shoulder, which she batted away. "What happened?!"

"The antidote you gave her kept her going for awhile, but by the time it was administered, it was already too late, and during the night she stopped breathing. We tried everything, CPR, defibrillators, every resuscitaton method known, and nothing happened." The medic stated guiltily. "There's nothing that could've been done. She's gone."

Bow Kid began sobbing again and the medic motioned her to the door, but she didn't go. They tried convincing her that she needed to leave and clear her thoughts, but she refused. They had to get a goat to pick her up and take her out by force, kicking and screaming.

After the goat dropped her outside, and she failed to get back into the hospital, she climbed to the very top of the Goat Village and looked up at the cosmos and constellations above. She wondered if Hat Kid was there, finally at peace and truly happy, and another tear rolled down her cheek.

She stood up, and suddenly a large gust of wind tilted her forward, and she began falling slightly, when something grabbed onto the back of her shirt and raised her back up. When she looked to see who had saved her, she gasped.

She was her height, had toffee brown hair, was wearing a purple shirt with a large zipper, white pants, a yellow cape, and a purple top hat with a yellow sash. It was Hat Kid, back from the dead. Bow Kid gave her the biggest hug the Universe had ever seen and began sobbing again into her shoulder, and Hat Kid returned the hug.

"It's okay, Bow. It's okay. I'm here now," Hat Kid said calmly. "I promise you, I will never leave you, ever. Even if it means overcoming Death itself." Bow Kid's crying had toned down to quiet crying and sniffling, and she looked at her captain.

"Please, don't ever do that again," Bow Kid begged, and Hat Kid smiled warmly, she too was crying slightly.

"It won't happen again, I promise," Hat Kid reassured, and they hugged again, and stayed like that for about five minutes, until they both had calmed down.

"So, what happened? I checked your pulse and your breathing, and there was nothing!" Bow Kid asked, and Hat Kid held her forehead.

"I'm not exactly sure what happened, all I remember is everything going black when I passed out at the third root, and somewhat returning to consciousness on a bed, and I heard muffled talking in the background." Hat Kid answered.

"What happen when you, uh, came back?" Bow Kid inquired.

"I opened my eyes, and found myself under a tarp. It was like I was just asleep, and woke up. I felt perfectly fine, almost like the whole 'illness' thing was just a bad dream," Hat Kid explained. "No one was there when I crawled out from under the tarp, so I got up and went outside, and some shocked Alpiners saw me, which confused me, and told me to go see you at the top of the village, which I did."

Bow Kid smiled. "Whatever. All that matters to me is that you're back, and you're not leaving me," She responded, and they both smiled. "So, uh, what now?"

"Well, considering how much work we've been put through, I thought we could, well, take a vacation," Hat Kid explained, causing Bow Kid to give her a confused look.

"What do you mean?" She asked, and Hat Kid smiled and pulled something out of her pocket and held it in her hand, then grabbed it with her other hand, revealing two very nearly identical items. Upon closer inspection, in turns out they were two tickets to an arctic cruise line.

"It's a win-win situatioin. If we find Time Pieces, then we collect them, it shouldn't be too dangerous considering it's a federally inspected cruise ship. Right?" Hat Kid continued. "And if we don't, well, no matter, we're still getting a trip on a cruise ship, which we've never done before."

Bow Kid nodded. It did make sense. They returned to the spaceship, and Hat Kid cracked her knuckles, then an alarm blared out throughout the ship.

WARNING. TIME RIFTS DETECTED.

Hat Kid pouted and stomped up to the monitor, then tapped it, revealing three pictures, two blue orbs and one purple orb. Hat Kid groaned and ran over to the hatch, then they both jumped out.