"But you're not dead!" Everest pointed out.

"But this is a good chance to put this all behind us, right?" Marshall countered.

"So we've still gotta go?" Zuma asked, sadly.

"If we don't, then all the prep we did would be for nothing, right?" Rocky replied.

"And a lot of people will have wasted a trip. Us included." Tracker added.

Ever since Marshall had got back and started filling everyone in on what was to become of his funeral, a debate had been raging among the pups as to whether it was a good idea or not. Naturally, this would have been the first funeral in most of the pups' lives, and a few were upset that their opportunity to miss it had been shut down.

"But…" Rubble squeaked. "We… really don't wanna… None of us wanted to go to a funeral..."

"No-one likes funerals, though." Chase replied. "But I think it's a great idea. We'll finally be able to put everything behind us, there, right?"

"We shouldn't have to, though!" Everest fired back. "Everything's fine! Marshall's fine! There's no reason that we should be doing this!"

"But think of all the wasted effort!" Rocky said. "Plus, we can all be grateful that Marshall's still here!"

"But we're alweady gwateful!" Zuma shouted. "How much more gwateful do you want us to be?!"

"Pups?" Katie interjected gently from the side. "Whose choice was it for the funeral to stay on? It was Marshall's, right?"

The pups all directed their gaze towards the dalmatian.

"Yeah, Mayor Goodway asked me if I wanted it to go ahead." he replied.

"There you go." Katie said. "This was Marshall's choice all along. The least you can all do now is stand by him."

"But Katie! It's gonna be so sad for no reason!" Rubble protested. "We shouldn't be saying goodbye to someone who's still with us!"

"Hey, chill, Rubble!" Jake reassured. "From the sounds of it, we won't be saying goodbye at all. We're just gonna be putting this whole thing to bed."

"It's already been put to bed, though..." Everest interjected. "With Marshall here, having the funeral's just gonna be pointlessly sad..."

"Think about it, Everest." Carlos countered. "You said it yourself, Marshall's gonna be there. And he'll be able to put this behind him, too."

"It was only three days ago that we all thought we'd be saying goodbye, remember." Tracker added. "Instead, we can be there for each other. Marshall included. And we can finally put the whole thing behind us. I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound pointless to me."

Now that everyone had had the chance to speak their peace, the room had gone quiet. Marshall cast his eyes over the entire room to see everyone stealing glances at each other. Chase seemed to have his eyes glued firmly to the floor, his mind clearly elsewhere. The other pups, however, all looked less certain. Everest looked like she was far away, as did Zuma, whereas Rubble looked like he was on the verge of crying.

"OK..." Everest sighed after a minute. "I still REALLY don't wanna do this… But if it's for Marshall…" The husky looked at Marshall with a sad smile. "...I'll do my best..."

"Me too..." Rubble piped up. "I was really hoping that now that you're back, we wouldn't have to do this… But… I've been brave before… So I'll try to be brave again, Marshall… for you..."

Marshall couldn't hold back a joyful sniffle. "...thanks, guys..."

The attention in the room soon turned to Zuma, who still looked like he had no idea where to put himself.

"Guys..." Zuma whimpered. "Do… do I… have to?"

"Zuma, if you really don't want to, I won't mind." Marshall replied gently. "But if you do come, then you're not gonna be alone… You'll have everyone there with you. Including me."

There was another long pause. It was plain to see that Zuma wanted no part of it. But eventually, Zuma walked over to Marshall.

"I… I'll twy, Mawshall… B-But… I'm… I'm pwobably gonna cwy, too… You know that, wight?"

Marshall chuckled softly. "I think we all are, Zuma… And thank you… You doing your best is all I ask..."

Zuma walked up close to Marshall and nuzzled him, to which Marshall responded by wrapping an arm around the labrador. Everyone smiled at the sight.

"There's one more thing, guys." Marshall said. "Mayor Goodway's gonna bring a camera crew around at 8PM."

"A camera crew?" Chase parroted.

"Yeah. They're gonna shoot Hello Adventure Bay again. They're gonna show everyone I'm OK!"

"What did I tell you?" Everest replied. "I said that she'd be able to tell the whole town that you're alive, right? Beats giving a "Hey, Marshall's Alive!" Parade, huh?"

"But I love parades..." Marshall pouted jokingly, to laughter from the rest of the group.

"You think they'll wanna talk to any of us?" Rocky asked.

"I'm not sure what they're gonna do, actually." Marshall replied. "We'll just have to see when they get here."

"I just hope they don't wanna talk to Ryder..."

When Rubble finished his sentence, the room immediately fell quiet. The reminder of how their owner seemed to be trying his hardest to avoid them hit them all heavily. It was made worse by the fact that none of them had a clue as to why. Ever since the accident, Ryder had completely shut himself off, and the only one who seemed to be able to get even remotely close to him was Marshall. This reminder had worried them all into silence.

"Actually, I don't even know if he'll come to the funewal at this wate..." Zuma whimpered.

From the other end of the room, Jake sighed. "We'll just call Ryder a work-in-progress, huh, dudes? He needs time."

"But he can't keep running away from us, Jake!" Katie countered. "I mean, you saw how sick he got while we weren't there for him, right?!"

"So, what, we just kick the door down and drag him to the funeral?" Carlos suggested sarcastically.

Marshall was too drawn into the argument that had begun around him to notice that a certain german shepherd had walked up to him.

"Psst. Marshall."

"WHA-?!" Marshall yelped, before realising Chase was standing right next to him. "Urgh, Chase, don't sneak up on me like that!" he hissed.

"What part of what I just did was 'sneaking'?!" Chase hissed back incredulously. "Anyway..."

Chase jerked his head towards the door and mouthed something to Marshall. Even though the dalmatian didn't understand what Chase had just mouthed, he knew full well what he wanted to talk about. Slowly pulling away from the circle, the two pups made themselves scarce, stepping outside of the Lookout and moving towards the rear end of the island.

The two were able to quickly formulate a plan from their brief disappearance, which left them free to go back to their own devices. Chase simply laid in his Pup House to mentally prepare himself for his inevitable apology, while Marshall quickly found himself sidetracked by his own Pup House. It was practically hypnotic in the worst way. Marshall was simply incapable of looking away from it. To the extent that he barely noticed how time had flown by and that another pup had joined him after a long while.

"...it's really something, huh?"

"BWAGH-!" Marshall practically jumped out of his skin, eliciting the same reaction in the second pup. "For crying out loud, Skye! How long have you been sitting there?!"

"I scared YOU?! How'd you not notice me for five minutes?!" Skye retorted, trying to get her rapidly-beating heart back under control.

"Well, sorry, but it's not every day you get to look at your own grave!"

The pups stared at each other while practically hyperventilating for a few more seconds before their breathing got back under control.

"Whew..." Skye panted. "Sorry about that… I'm OK now..."

"Yeah… no problem… I'm sorry, too… and… same..." Marshall wheezed.

The two pups focused their attention back on Marshall's Pup House, and the haunting sight quickly sucked the time away once more for the pair of them. They still couldn't get over the sheer volume of flowers and candles packed into it. Both desperately tried to avert their eyes from the giant, black-framed Marshall portrait smiling down at them, and neither of them particularly wanted to read the condolence cards that had been set up at the bottom of the portrait. And Marshall wasn't entirely sure that he was going to sleep with the teddy amongst the cards ever again after associating it with this.

"How… How many people came by here?" Marshall asked slowly, still not looking away from what amounted to his tomb.

Skye didn't reply for a few seconds. "...I gotta be honest. I stopped counting after ten."

"At least ten?" Marshall asked. "(Did… everyone really miss me? That much?)" The dalmatian looked at some of the flowers, laying his eyes on a large, purple bouquet at the entrance, walking up to it and gently pushing it to one side with his nose.

"This Humdinger's?"

"Yeah."

"It's… huge. Do that many flowers grow in Foggy Bottom?"

"I don't think so..."

With the bouquet out of the way, Marshall now had access to the cards laid around the portrait.

"Who left these?"

"Dunno. I lost track. I know Mr. Porter and Alex left one."

Marshall moved towards another before recoiling.

"Urghk-!" Marshall retched. "Smells like fish!"

Skye giggled slightly. "That'll be the Turbots' card..."

Marshall grumbled at the horrible smell before looking at something out of the ordinary.

"Hey, what's this? It looks like a full-blown letter."

Taking the folded paper in his mouth, Marshall turned around and laid it on the ground next to Skye. Moving back, the pups got a good look at the strong, clear handwriting on the paper, taking note of the stamp on it.

"'With deepest… con-doll-enn-kess'?" Marshall struggled to read the final word on the envelope. "The heck does that mean?"

"Jeez..." Skye said softly. "That's a five-dollar word… What kinda kid's gonna know what that means? Actually some guy in a really fancy uniform dropped this off. It's gotta be important."

"Who coulda wrote this?" Marshall asked, before casting his eyes to the stamp in the corner of the envelope.

"Hey!" Marshall suddenly had an epiphany. "Isn't this the crest of Barkingburg?!"

Skye squinted at the stamp before her pink eyes shot open. "Hey! I think you're right!"

"What did it say?"

"I dunno! I didn't wanna read that! Who wants to read a letter about their dead frie… pup?!"

Marshall froze, realising that he was getting too far ahead of himself.

"Oh… I-I'm sorry, I totally forgot..." Marshall said sadly.

Skye took a deep breath. "No… No harm done… But now I'm really curious."

"If you don't wanna read it, that's fine."

"No, now I wanna." Skye replied, turning the paper over to reveal the wax seal, identical to the stamp on the letter. "I mean, my friend… the pup's not dead anymore, right?"

Marshall elected to ignore Skye's abrupt correction of herself as she used one of her tiny claws to split the seal down the middle, letting the paper unfold to reveal consise, clear handwriting that took up the entire page. The pups fell silent as they scanned their eyes over the paper.

"-with heavy hearts-"
"-deepest sympathies-"
"-will be missed terribly-"
"-stands by you all in this dark time-"
"-Adventure Bay's suffering-"
"-cannot claim to know-"

"It's weird." Skye finally spoke up. "I can't read some of the words in this letter, but I know exactly what it's trying to say."

"I didn't think Barkingburg would go this far..." Marshall added, looking down at the bottom of the page, where another stamp lay, along with a cluster of signatures. "Did… the whole family sign this thing?"

Skye looked down at the bottom. "Must have. Hey, there's a pawprint here, too."

Marshall focused on the black pawprint that had caught the cockapoo's eye. "Is this… Sweetie's?"

"How many other pups are in Barkingburg? But don't get too excited. They probably made her sign this..."

"Wonder how she felt upon getting the news..."

Skye suddenly began to growl. "Over the moon, I bet..." she snarled angrily. "She'd better not show up in a few days..."

"Skye, it's OK! Don't think about it too hard." Marshall frantically attempted to reassure the cockapoo. "If she tries something, everyone will know about it. Don't worry."

"I hope you're right..." Skye growled, attempting to take some breaths to calm herself down.

The pups kept staring at the letter for a couple more minutes before a voice called out to them.

"Hey! Skye! You're back!"

The pups turned to the source of the voice approaching them. "Hey, Katie!" Skye greeted.

"What are you guys looking at?" Katie asked.

"It's from Barkingburg!" Marshall replied. "Take a look!"

Katie kneeled down to scan over the letter with the two pups. Looking at her face, the pups could tell that she was having some difficulty understanding it, too.

"Yep." Katie said flatly after a few seconds. "That's Barkingburg."

"Right?" Skye replied. "What makes them think a bunch of kids are gonna know what all this means?"

"Well, it's a nice letter, either way." Marshall countered. "So what'cha up to, Katie?"

"I was about to get going, actually." Katie replied. "Cali's still back at the Pet Parlor, after all. I was just coming by to see if you needed help with anything."

"Well..." Marshall began, looking over at his Pup House. "...could I ask you a big favor, Katie?"

"Anything, Marshall."

Katie ended up staying for several minutes longer than she had intended helping the pups clear up Marshall's Pup House. In truth, the pups were happy to be rid of it. But none moreso than Marshall himself, who'd made his discomfort with the memorial quite clear. Katie offered to take the flowers back with her in a wagon Rocky had in his truck to decorate her Parlor, with Chase even putting a pawprint on a written agreement just to make sure. Due process had to be respected, even in the strangest of cases. Soon, the only things left were Marshall's portrait and Barkingburg's condolence letter. Katie was surprised that Marshall had asked for his teddy to be taken away, but understood when he explained that he wouldn't be able to look at it without thinking of his memorial anymore.

"Bye, pups!" Katie called, as she set out over the bridge. "See you later!"

The entire group, minus a certain brown-haired boy, stood at the bridge to wave Katie goodbye as she returned to the Pet Parlor to take care of Cali. Each pup, as well as Jake and Carlos, shouted their goodbyes to Katie as she vanished out of sight.

"So what are we gonna do with that big pictuwe?" Zuma asked. "It's… cweepy..."

Attention soon turned back to the memorial photo of Marshall. "I was gonna ask the Mayor if she wanted to use it for the funeral." Rocky replied. "Otherwise… well, that's something I won't mind losing, and NOT re-using."

"Normally I'd say 'whoa', but it's a little hard to argue with that." Jake said. "It's like, well, what that picture MEANS, y'know?"

"Not much use for it in the jungle, either." Carlos added.

"And we are NOT hanging this thing up in the Lookout." Rubble said emphatically.

The only bright thing about the photo was the cream backdrop and Marshall himself. Everything else about it screamed sombre despair. And since the photo was taken for an exhibit on the Paw Patrol at the Adventure Bay Museum, despair was absolutely not the intention. But now they wouldn't be able to visit the exhibit without thinking about the tragedy that nearly was.

While the group had fallen into contemplative silence, there was one pup who's mind was elsewhere. Chase was wondering whether he should wait for a little longer to spring his apology on the pups, but then, he already had a perfect opportunity ahead of him, and he'd already hurt everyone with his refusal to be there in their time of need. Deciding that he wasn't going to do that again, Chase took a deep breath in.

"Everyone..." Chase began, perhaps a little louder than he had intended. "I've got something I wanna say."

Marshall was slightly taken aback as Chase spoke up and walked out to the front of the group.

"(I hope that pup knows what he's doing...)"

First impressions weren't exactly favourable, however, since once Chase had turned to face the group, his face became one of uncertainty and fear. His short, laboured breathing was very audible to the group. Marshall knew it well. Chase was undergoing stage fright. But perhaps a more extreme version, considering the circumstances. Chase had become completely rigid, and his amber eyes darted back and forth across the concerned-looking group.

But as Chase locked eyes with Marshall, the dalmatian sat down and raised his paws to his chest, simultaneously taking a slow, deep breath in through his nose, making sure that every one of his actions was plainly visible. He paused for a second, before steadily breathing out through his mouth and extending his paws towards Chase with a reassuring smile, nonverbally instructing him to take a deep breath.

Despite his fear still showing on his face, Chase followed Marshall's instruction, and took a long, steady breath in, before slowly breathing out. The shepherd was surprised at how much this actually helped his mind slow down a little, feeding it the oxygen it sorely needed and allowing him to lock on to where he wanted to start his speech.

"Pups… Jake… Carlos… I've not been a good pup, lately..." Chase began. "Actually, I've been a coward..."

Chase stopped when he realised that Marshall was frantically shaking his head and slicing a paw across his neck. Suddenly, Chase remembered Marshall's instructions not to go overboard with insulting himself.

"…I shouldn't have been keeping secrets… Or been shutting myself off… Guys… I… I thought I'd totally burnt bridges with you all earlier… I know… I was hurt, too… But that doesn't mean I should've kept Marshall to myself last night. And I know you were worried about me… And yet, all I did was shut myself in my Pup House… It's bad enough that Ryder's cutting himself off, too… the last thing you all need is me doing the same thing…

The pups were listening intently to Chase's long speech. Even Marshall, who had helped him rehearse. It was somewhat amazing that Chase was keeping it all together.

"And Skye."

Skye jumped at the mention of her name.

"...I've been the worst to you. I mean, I heard you outside my Pup House. I could tell you had so much going on… I should've been there to help you! I mean, you've always been there for us, but when it was my turn, I totally chickened out!"

Skye stared at Chase in awe, as he stopped to take another breath to collect himself.

"I don't think I've ever felt as bad as I have in the last few days… I mean, losing Marshall… my brother… my best friend… It destroyed me… I thought the dentist scared me, but… I sometimes get nightmares about losing you guys…" Chase sniffled briefly. "...and I didn't realise how much more that scared me… until it actually came true..."

Everyone gave Chase a sympathetic look as he forced back his tears.

"...but that doesn't mean I should've hidden like that. All I did was worry you all… and hurt myself. I'm the Paw Patrol's second-in-command… But for the last few days, I really haven't acted like it. So..."

Chase stopped to take a few more deep breaths.

"So… To sum it up: I'm sorry, everyone. I'm sorry, Rocky. I knew how worried you were getting about me. And I should've at least tried to let you in. I'm sorry Rubble and Zuma. You guys both really needed someone to cry with, and all I did was listen to you two suffer. I'm sorry, Everest and Tracker. You both needed someone to talk to, and... all I did was run away. And..."

Chase gulped loudly before speaking again.

"...most of all… I'm sorry, Skye. You were counting on me… You were trying to be there for me… And I threw you off and screamed at you… You needed someone to cry with the most… And I just left you to it… I don't know if any of you will be able to forgive me… But if we can start over… I can be a better pup to you all."

Everyone was completely silent for a few seconds, staring at Chase with a mixture of bewilderment and sympathy. This had been the most open the pup had been with them for days, and no-one knew what to make of it. With the exception of Marshall, who, still sat on the floor, eventually started to clap, only to stop with a nervous giggle when he noticed everyone staring at him.

"Chase..." Rocky began, after turning back to him. "...that was probably the silliest thing I've heard from you. You don't have to apologise to me. Heck, you don't have to apologise to anyone! I mean, yeah, it hurt a little when you said that you'd kept Marshall from us last night for a while, but heck, if Marshall spoke to me first, I would've done the same thing!" Rocky walked up to Chase and gently licked his cheek. "The fact that you came out to talk to us… to say all that… that all means way more than you might think… As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing to forgive."

Chase sniffled with joy. "...thanks, Rocky..."

"Wocky's wight!" Zuma added. "I know if I was the fiwst one to find Mawshall, thewe's no way I'd shawe him wight away!" Zuma walked up and nuzzled the shepherd. "We all knew how sad you were… We know how close you are to Mawshall… We know how you feel, dude… Don't be so hawd on youwself..."

Chase quickly leaned in to nuzzle Zuma back. Marshall watched on, smiling at how well things were going. But the smile swiftly got wiped from his face when Rubble was the next to walk up to Chase, only to bop him on the nose with one of his paws.

"Oww!" Chase yelled, falling on his behind and grabbing his nose with his paws.

"Rubble!" Rocky shouted. "What was THAT for?!"

"Just getting even." Rubble replied. "Maybe you're right, Chase. Maybe you shouldn't have hid like that. You SHOULD have been with us. But that's because we were all so worried and sad… I mean, it was bad enough that Marshall was dead, but you and Ryder disappearing on us only made things so much worse than they were… But you know something? I'm really happy you apologised. 'Cause that means things can finally start getting better… We don't have to worry about our big brother anymore… Along with how sad we were over Marshall dying." Rubble's face suddenly turned more serious than usual. "But if you feel that way again, then PLEASE don't shut yourself off again? For us? Promise?"

Chase responded by getting to his feet and giving Rubble a huge face lick.

"Promise." he replied.

A few seconds passed before Everest and Tracker walked forward, with Jake and Carlos at their backs.

"Ay, Chase, you silly pup..." Tracker began with a playful edge to his words. "How could I expect you to talk to me when you were there to see Marshall fall into that river? You can't REALLY think I hold that against you? I mean, that was a nice speech, don't get me wrong, but you're acting like I hate you! You were hurt, too! Maybe worse than any of us, here!

"He's right, Chase." Carlos added. "We don't have to forgive you. We understand completely why you did what you did."

"Tracker… Carlos..." Chase whispered, still trying to choke back tears.

"It's not like I can really complain, you know?" Everest began sadly. "Because I know exactly how you feel. I mean…" Everest looked down at the floor as Jake laid a hand on her head. "I shut down too when I got the news… It felt like nothing I ever did would be worth it again… So you don't have to apologise to me… Apology accepted, by the way… Really, I feel more like I should be apologising to you."

"Ha ha, OK, Ev..." Jake chuckled softly. "It sounds like you're all good, Chase, dude. Everyone here knows how you were feeling… Just don't shut yourself off again… Everyone here would wanna help you like you help them, y'know?" Jake suddenly leaned down closer to Everest's ear. "And that goes for you too, little lady. Clear?"

Chase smiled. "Totally, Jake..."

Everest turned and gave Jake a sad smile. "Sure is..."

Chase was really struggling to suppress his tears now. He had to remember to try and return Marshall's kindness at some point. After all, if not for his help, Chase probably wouldn't have had the guts to apologise the way he did. But here he was, safe in the knowledge that nobody held his withdrawal against him.

Well, almost nobody.

Everyone's attention soon turned to the one pup who had yet to say anything, who was standing rooted to the ground, eyes firmly locked on the ground. Skye was looking incredibly guilty. Chase's heart sank when he remembered how angry Skye had gotten with him.

"Skye?" Marshall finally spoke up. "Don't you have something you wanna say to Chase?"

Skye remained quiet.

"Come on, Skye!" Rocky interjected. "Chase just poured his heart out! Are you just gonna say nothing?!"

"...I..." Skye whispered. "I… I don't deserve his apology..."

Everyone went rigid. "...Skye, what the heck are you talking about?!" Zuma spluttered.

"...you know 'what'." Skye replied quietly, getting up and walking away.

"Skye! Come back!" Rubble shouted after her.

"Hey! Skye! Don't be like that!" Everest yelled.

"Come on, Skye!" Tracker called.

But Skye didn't react at all. She just kept on walking with her gaze locked firmly on the ground. Chase began to whimper, realising that his long apology had more or less no effect on her.

"Guys..." Chase whined. "Wh-Why… Am I… that horrible?"

"NO! Absolutely not!" Rocky shouted. "I don't know why Skye's acting like this! First she yells at you, and then-!"

"ROCKY!" Marshall shouted, snapping the mixed breed out of his rant. "...not the time."

Marshall walked up to Chase and wrapped his arms around him.

"Sorry, Chase..." Marshall whispered. "...Looks like Skye's gonna take a little more work..."

"No..." Chase replied, returning Marshall's hug. "We talked about that… We knew that Skye wasn't get over things that easy."

"Hey, dudes?" Jake piped up. "Is it just me, or did she look really sad?"

"Almost like she was really guilty or something." Carlos added.

"See, Chase?" Marshall whispered reassuringly. "She'll come around."

Chase tightened his hold on the dalmatian. "Maybe… Maybe..."

Chase punctuated his sentence with a slight sniffle of contentment. For as much as he thought that he'd burned bridges with the other pups, they were quick to reassure him that he was blowing things out of proportion. Now all but one pup had solidly reaffirmed that they were standing with him.

And even that one pup had just proven that mending their ties was far from impossible.

Happy New Year! Or Happy New Decade as the case may be. That pesky "1" has disappeared from the year's third slot and has been replaced by newcomer "2". Let's make it feel welcome, shall we?

Anyway, with the reunions all said and done, the pups have mixed feelings about being made to attend a funeral for someone who isn't even dead, Marshall learns more about what happened in his absence and how far-reaching his accident was and Chase finally manages to apologise. Now there's just the matter of Hello Adventure Bay...

And as always, if you enjoyed this, then please don't hesitate to leave a review or send a favourite or follow my way. Thanks for listening and I hope to see you next time.