The door slowly clicked open and Melissa was the first to enter. The moment she did, she stepped in just in time to hear a tired groaning from her biological Anacardian parent and she stiffened, eyes wide with shock. That groan couldn't possibly come from anyone else if not the one in front of her.
"Lord Orton?" The redhead slowly approached the Guardian, who already began to stir, as if he had sensed her incoming presence. She felt her pulse racing and her steps were robotic as she edged forward.
Still lying in bed, Orton slowly breathed in the first deep breath he's had in a long time. Filling his lungs with the crisp air of morning, it felt like heaven. The feeling coursed through his entire body and Orton was surprised to find himself completely free from the agony Block inflicted on him - He didn't even feel the pain from his wounds and it's as if he never had them to begin with!
He tiredly opened his eyes to find himself looking right into a pair of very familiar light blue pools.
"…Melissa," Orton managed to croak out, his throat completely parched from having not drunk anything for hours straight. The younger girl sitting by him was shaking in utter astonishment as she wondered if she was dreaming or not. The adult's heart began to swell with great love at complete recognition of his little girl - He slowly held his arm out towards her.
Melissa felt her father's arm invitingly pull her close to him and the action made her lose it. She let out a muffled squeak and she was pressed against Orton's wood-scented nightshirt. In the hug, she felt every hint of love coming from the tired Guardian and she felt terrible.
How could he possibly be loving her still despite after all that's happened? Balthazar couldn't be more right when he said Orton loved her to the brim. She did not deserve such devotion… She never did.
Shaking her head slightly, Melissa pulled away, her teary eyes screwed shut as she sobbed silently and moved away; Standing back up a short distance away from the bed. "Melissa?" My young flower - Is there something upsetting you?" Orton tried to reach out to her; Seeing his little girl in this state saddened him greatly. "Please talk to me Melissa,"
Despite his tone sounding tired still after a whole night of being in a coma, Melissa could sense the concern in her biological father's voice. It really shattered her heart just seeing how he still had the heart to care. The silence she gave worried the parent greater. Orton was about to go to her himself only for the girl to finally spoke up in the form of inaudible muttering.
The man looked confused. "What was that darling?" The question while not quite sensible, caused concern to erupt further within Orton and he frowned in worry. But nothing could have prepared him for what his child said next.
The soft yet consoling expression remained on Orton and this made Melissa crumble. She was already breaking down and backing away from him. "I can't understand…" She whispered and her voice rose at the next sentence. "I just can't understand - Why did you have to be so kind, Lord Orton? And how could you still care about me when I was so selfish?!"
Melissa's emotions have reached a breaking point. She could no longer control the words that came out of her mouth; The feelings she had been bottling up ever since her time in the Mortal World. "Just look at yourself and look at me! For all my life I never gave you a chance! I never wanted to come here and I always thought you abandoned me! I only knew I was so wrong when it was too late."
She sobbed and wiped hard at her eyes. "But even after all the times I thought badly of you, you still never stopped caring about me! You even put yourself to death twice just for me and what did you get from me for thanks? Nothing! Just nothing! Until I knew and remembered everything so late by the time you were dying..."
She shakily inhaled between sobs and she collapsed to her knees; Her face buried in her hands.
"At least Milo actually kept believing in you and Lord Balthazar. Even if he knew he shouldn't be outside of Anacardia he still has the heart to want to reconnect with you all. I didn't until he and Zack persuaded me." She shakily stood up, her head lowered and her tears continued to fall. "You don't deserve me, Orton. You deserve a much better daughter. One that will actually try to reconnect with you at her own desire rather than being talked into it by another. Then you wouldn't be so ashamed of her."
She sobbed and slowly turned to her back is facing the silent Time Guardian. "You can go kick me back in the Mortal World and replace me if you want. I'm not stopping you - At least Anacardia will be less of one, useless Guardian who didn't even grow to like her heritage...!"
Melissa didn't finish her sentence for a gentle but firm hand grasped her shoulder and she was turned to face the visibly stricken Orton. Just hearing such words pour from his daughter's mouth is enough to completely break the man's heart and make him get out of the bed to go comfort her - The tears streaming down his face being clear evidence.
With a slow inhale, Orton gently tipped the distressed Melissa's chin up so they're both locking gazes.
"You are not a worthless Guardian. Or a girl that I'd ever be ashamed to call my daughter and there is no force in this world that can prove otherwise." Orton said each word slowly but firmly, sincerely meaning every bit. "My little girl, I love you so much I can never let anything bad happen to a precious thing like yourself. You are my baby, my own flesh and blood borne by the Queen's power. You mean so much to me Melissa. I refuse to let you think otherwise..."
The Guardian closed his eyes and sighed. His hand gently cupped Melissa's cheek and the girl could see total sadness in Orton's eyes.
"And another, you mustn't blame yourself for feeling such negativity either, my love." Orton's thumb brushed away Melissa's tears. "You're still and only a child, barely an adult. You are merely feeling what anyone at your age could have felt when they find themselves far away from family. There is nobody in this world who can control or choose what you should feel except yourself and you have the right to feel upset over this."
He lowered his head and the Two touched foreheads. "That and.. Part of this is truly my fault too. I was foolish to think that having the both of us outside at such a delicate time of night is harmless - None of that mishap with Block would have happened if I had just been more sensible!"
The man shook with sobs and he hugged Melissa tighter; The girl gasping in heartbreak seeing her father like this. She hugged him back in attempt to comfort him. "I'm so sorry. Sorry that you had to go through all that trouble.. You must have been so lonely in the Mortal World when I threw you there. You.. You were so confused. You didn't know what was going on. But even when you could have hated me forever, you still came.. "
Melissa shook her head slightly and sighed. "Well that wasn't at my own will." She muttered. "I told you. I needed Milo just to talk me into coming to Anacardia." She looked very ashamed. "Kids who really care about their parents should.. Well.. They'd do exactly what Milo did! Come here at their own initiative and be happy because they're going to see you again!"
The girl sobbed before continuing. "Milo was so positive about this whole journey. He never thought he was abandoned by you guys like I did." She hiccuped slightly and turned away. "I should've been more like him; Believing in the bright side of you and be happy to go back home."
"Melissa," Orton breathed and was about to talk to her; Only for a sudden rustling under the bed to catch his attention.
Before he could say, a brown haired boy clad in burgundy was quick to get out and the first thing he did was hug Melissa tightly, much to the girl's utter surprise. To add on to that, Zack too followed after Milo and Melissa realized that both her missing friends are right here.
Melissa could have questioned them on why they're here, but Milo looked at her seriously with his hands still on her shoulders after pulling away from the brief hug.
"You couldn't be more wrong when you said you have to be like me Melissa! You can't compare yourself with me over this!" The boy's tone was firm much to the surprise of Melissa and even Zack, who never heard him use this tone before; Orton continued to watch his nephew quietly as the kid continued. "You heard what uncle Orton said! Nobody can choose what you should feel and you have the right to feel upset or not when you ended up in the Mortal World like I did!"
Melissa stood in dazed silence and she sighed. "That's the thing Milo. I chose to be upset while you didn't and look where it's got me." She teared up and slowly gazed at Orton, who looked back softly at her. "It made me think badly of the one person who loved me so much that he's willing to get killed protecting me!"
Milo frowned at remembering something and he inhaled. "I suppose that's true. I won't argue with that Melissa." His brown eyes hardened. "But you know what? Just because I seem so happy and excited about reuniting with Papa, doesn't mean that I had my own doubts at some point too!"
This made his friend's eyes widen with surprise and Milo continued. "Melissa, you remember that time at the cliff right? When we saw that figure? That was not Papa. It was that King Block guy - The man who tried to attack you when Orton got in the way! I never told you and Zack this yet, but you don't know what he did to me after I confronted him!"
The boy paused to try to compose himself in readying to talk about the painful memory.
"It all happened right after I confronted King Block thinking it was Papa back then. He didn't do much at first, but he showed me Papa destroying the Mt Laurel plains as that giant monster." His friends gasped in horror and Orton looked furious at what his friend-now-turned-foe had done to his nephew. "He said to me all sorts of things like how Papa was a bad Guardian who fell to the dark side because he was grieving and all and… And I believed him!"
The burgundy clad boy was crying with immense grief and upset. Melissa especially looked so shocked, and upset at what the monstrous man had done to her friend. But what shocked her the most was the fact that Milo actually believed Balthazar was bad at that point - She never expected that to happen at all. Milo continued to look at her through his tears.
"I feel so awful about it. I was so desperate to see Papa again but that monster was all I was given to see that first time - Even if it's only for a while I actually believed that Block was right! That Papa was an evil monster who's dead set on destruction I didn't think twice!" Milo inhaled shakily and he momentarily thought of telling them the encounter with the Queen and Lord Mendel but decided otherwise; Thinking its best for another time.
His voice grew softer and he gazed at Melissa. "You see Melissa? You're not the only one who's feeling at the betrayal side here. Even if it took something drastic, I managed to feel exactly what you felt towards uncle Orton until someone else proved me otherwise! It hurt me so much when that had happened.. I feel so ashamed."
Melissa remained quiet in letting all this sink in. Until Zack finally took the chance to say a couple comforting things himself. He held the shoulders of both Milo and Melissa.
"You two may have been the only two Anacardians to ever grow up on earth, but that doesn't mean you two have to be exactly alike! Out of this world of not, every person out there is unique. They feel things in their own way and they respond to things in their own way." Zack brought up warmly and he hugged the two close while gazing at Melissa. "You don't have to view this journey like Milo does, Melissa. You had more doubts than he did, but that's okay! Everyone feels differently towards certain things after all,"
Lowering her hands from her mouth, Melissa realized the truth in Zack's words and part of the cloud wavering over her had dissipated. Seeing that she's slightly cheered up, Milo began to smile and he nuzzled his friend's shoulder.
"Look on the bright side Melissa. We both have thought badly of our parents then," Milo shrugged slightly and his smile turned brighter at what he said next. "But we both know better now don't we? I found that Papa was a true, Anacardian Guardian and you learnt that uncle Orton never really abandoned you! It's true we had our negative doubts about them but that was in the past! We're both here, with the truth about our real family in our heads and we could put that to use in our future!"
At this, Zack nodded in agreement. "Exactly! And you two still have your dads and not to mention a lot of time to make up for the thirteen years without each other. Don't dwell on what's happened in the past and instead, focus on what you have today! Now's a good time for you to start over and just start all over,"
With that being said, the boys ushered Melissa forward to Orton who knelt with open arms; Waiting to welcome his daughter.
At this, Melissa broke down immediately. But instead of crying to herself, she went dashing for Orton's embrace and she was an emotional wreck, burying herself into her father's nightshirt. "I'm so sorry for everything… " Her voice was muffled inbetween sobs and being buried in her father's chest. "I love you daddy!"
The words touched Orton to the core and he hugged Melissa tighter, crying a bit himself. "I love you too, my young flower." He gently pulled her away so he could kiss her forehead, before letting her hug him again.
Milo and Zack kept smiling, feeling happy for their friend and Milo especially was beaming with twice the joy; Naturally for in saving Orton with his magic, he had given both the father and daughter a chance to reconcile with one another. He couldn't have been more happier and Zack felt very glad just seeing his two friends back with their true family at last.
The next few minutes that passed consisted of just emotional calm as Melissa and Orton relished in each other's presence with Zack and Milo watching happily. It lasted until a knocking on the door sounded and the doorknob clicked open. Curious like her friends, Melissa briefly left the sanctuary in Orton's arms to join Milo and Zack, whose eyes were fixed on the door...
"Melissa? Are you in there?" Balthazar's question sounded from behind the wood and the door fully opened.
The eldest Guardian was carrying a basin full of towels and bandages in one arm and behind him were the other three Guardians, who were following suit. When they entered, the eldest smiled upon seeing Melissa first. But then he froze slightly when he saw the others with her; Milo, Zack and…
Balthazar gasped in seeing the taller one behind the children. Awake. And standing up like he was never sick at all.
The other Guardians stood in silence and Balthazar literally dropped the objects in his arm; The splashing of its contents ignored. The eldest blinked multiple times in his disbelief while Brick and Savannah didn't move a muscle in their shock. Vinnie however was the first to move and he ran forward with tears in his eyes. Orton grinned at his second elder brother and they both shared a tight embrace.
"Oh my stars I can't believe it - Orton you look so... It's a miracle!" Cried the smaller adult as he kept sobbing inbetween his words. Orton continued to smile brightly through his tears and he looked up to glance at his other siblings. Savannah was next to run for a hug with her brother with Brick following after getting rid of the 'sweat in his eyes'.
Balthazar however took his time as he slowly made his way. His lips were quivering and his arctic eyes glistened with threatening tears as he gazed at his youngest brother. The others turned to look at him and Orton, never taking his eyes off of Balthazar, pulled away from his siblings to go up and hug the eldest Guardian himself.
The feeling of warm arms around him is enough to convince Balthazar thoroughly and he burst into tears as he hugged Orton back. "I was scared thinking that Block had killed you," Balthazar whispered and he choked in a sob. "You were so ill even Azrael couldn't help…" He was unable to finish for he broke down once more, weeping into Orton's shoulder.
The younger brother sighed at the mention of his own near fate and he kept rubbing his elder's back. "Well you wouldn't have to worry about me dying anytime now. What matters now is that I'm still here..." Orton found himself crumbling at that sentence as he remembered. He should have been dead by now. But yet some miracle had happened and he's completely okay. How did that happen?
The Guardians all took a turn hugging Orton one last time before the young ones in the room are finally acknowledged. Balthazar lowered a brow at the two boys. "I was wondering where the two of you had went. Melissa woke up to find herself alone and you two aren't around. Care to explain why?"
At this, all four Guardians who have entered focused on Milo and Zack with crossed arms or tapping feet, awaiting an explanation. For earlier, Balthazar had informed the others on the boys' absence and not to mention, had a short search party done fearing that they have gotten lost in the Palace grounds. Melissa and Orton too joined in as well, wondering why they were here and under Orton's bed in the first place.
Milo looked shy and was recoiling under all the staring, unsure of what to say. But luckily for him, Zack was somewhat ready with the explanation. The dandelion clad boy chuckled slightly and ran his fingers through his hair. "It's a pretty weird story actually, but you see, me and Milo were…"
Zack explained on, starting with awkward phrasing but then eventually speaking confidently and not missing a single detail; Milo's occasional add-ons and exclamations made the thing more funny to hear though, and Zack finally managed to finish.
For a brief moment, all five adults and Melissa were rendered silent by the story until the cloud of silence lifted, revealing the smiles and looks of awe on most of them.
Balthazar on the other hand had snapped to parent mode after hearing that Milo's fainted and is fussing over him pronto. The boy didn't seem to mind, but he didn't want his father fretting over him too much. "Papa I'm fine! Look at me I'm fine!" Milo tried to assure the worried parent but Balthazar was having none of it.
Once he's felt that Milo is indeed alright to him, Balthazar sighed and looked at his son apologetically. "I'm sorry for that, my boy. But I can't take chances. You overused your magic and that's a thing to be worried about,"
Milo tilted his head innocently and Balthazar lowered himself to look at his son; His eyes brimmed with tears still. "Still you managed to do something great beyond words. You saved your uncle Orton from an illness that was so deadly, for centuries nobody was ever able to heal the affected..." Whispered the Elder as he gently stroked Milo's cheek. "The Queen was right - You really did grow up to be a strong, and a wonderfully kind boy," He hugged Milo lovingly which was returned by the latter.
The boy continued to smile at the praise and he sighed wistfully. "Well I couldn't have done that if it weren't for Zack." He said, much to the surprise of the latter. Milo turned to look at him over his shoulder, his tender brown eyes lovingly gazing at his friend. "I wasn't able to heal uncle Orton at first. I wasn't strong enough and I almost gave up. But Zack kept me going. He had my back throughout the whole thing!"
Zack looked touched to the core and he became surprised yet again when Melissa joined in. She continued to hold onto Orton's arm as she spoke to the elders.
"Zack is the greatest kid Milo and I have ever met. He came and brought us a far distance. Literally - Every time Milo and I were at our weakest points, it was Zack who helped us back to our feet." Milo went up to join Melissa as they both wrapped an arm each around Zack. "He's a good kid, and a great friend that we could always count on."
"So if anything, Zack deserves all the credit. Melissa and I, we wouldn't have gotten this far it it weren't for him!" Milo added cheerfully and he hugged Zack.
"You didn't have to be so sentimental you two." The older boy blinked away his tears as he stood overwhelmed. Melissa and Milo saw so much in him, it made his heart swell realizing that he's meant so much to them now.
Even though all he did was little acts of kindness and consolation all the while taking them on the journey back home, the young Guardians took it to heart and this made Zack tear up; Milo and Melissa being quick to hug him in comforting.
"We're not being sentimental Zack. We're just being honest!" Melissa chuckled and Milo nuzzled the side of Zack's face before hugging him. "Thank you for sticking with us Zack. You're the greatest friend we've ever had," Whispered the boy.
Shaking with tears, Zack finally broke down and he threw his arms around Milo and Melissa; His new and true friends.