me: oh no im burned out how will I post things for attention
me:
me: ah! of course! the perfect way to get attention without actually having to think!


Heather didn't think she'd ever had such a good day at school before.

Maybe it was just because of how long it had been since the last time she was there, but every moment just seemed so busy and full of life. It was a little overwhelming, but she enjoyed it.

Her friends, and even friends of friends, were bursting with curiosity as to why she'd missed the past two days of school. Apparently the police had been called when she vanished, which… made sense. She spent a couple classes in the morning thinking of a decent story (read: totally nonsensical, but somehow believable) to tell them during the lunch period, which got passed around the school quickly. She felt a bit like a celebrity.

Heather spent a lot of time thinking about Herobrine, though, too. She still felt bad about leaving him for so long, and by mid-afternoon she was starting to come up with unlikely scenarios regarding what had happened to him. He could have been killed by Notch, or Theo discovered that he was hardcore and took him out. While he was usually the one doing the protecting, Heather soon found herself wishing that she was there to watch out for him.

All too soon, the school day was over, and she spent the short bus ride home enjoying her last few minutes with her friends. She had no doubt she would see them again, but, at least for now, she needed to go back with Herobrine. As long as he was okay, and could come pick her up, that is.

Heather marveled at the normalcy of the rest of her day, how mundane things such as doing chores and eating dinner with her parents made her so happy. She hadn't realized just how much she'd missed them until now.

She spent the evening hanging out with them, vaguely wondering why they hadn't really questioned her mysterious disappearance. All the better for her if she didn't have to explain, but still, kinda weird.

At 10 PM, Heather headed upstairs to find Herobrine standing in her room.

"Herobrine." She whispered, pushing the door shut behind her and hurrying forward to give him a hug. He wrapped his arms around her tightly as she leaned her head against his chest, hands clasped behind his back as she tried and assess whether or not he was hurt. He seemed okay.

"Heather." He murmured in response.

"How are you doing? I mean, are you okay?" She asked, pulling away. "Anything important happen while I was gone?"

"Nothing much." He offered her a hint of a smile. "303 has made no move. Perhaps Notch was right in that he fled back to Earth as well."

"He did?" She blinked. "Oh, that… explains how I ended up here, kind of."

"Indeed." Herobrine gave her a small nod. "Are you willing to go back with me?"

"I said I would. Yes." She nodded back. "How long- how long was today for you?"

"Three months." Heather physically flinched. She knew there was a significant difference between how time worked here and there, but the thought of Herobrine being alone for so long was still painful.

"I'm sorry."

"Please don't be." His voice was blank and motionless. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah." He took her hands in his, and in a flash of color she found herself in a flower-filled field.

Heather looked around, feeling a sense of deja vu as she was reminded of the first time she was pulled into Minecraft by her now-husband. The biome was surrounded by birch trees, and just inside the forest line she could see a small cabin.

"Is that ours?" She asked, pointing, and he followed her gaze before nodding.

"I built that over the past few weeks. It's well-stocked, I was hoping to wait out the rest of 303's attack where he can't find us." He responded, turning and beginning to lead her across the field towards it. "Or, at least until you'd like to go home."

"For now, can we plan on me going home before morning?" The blonde asked, swinging her clasped hands between her and her husband. "So, about… a month?"

"Of course." He sounded slightly more cheerful at that. The two of them crossed the remaining distance in silence, until they reached the front porch of the little birch house.

"Heather." His voice held slightly more emotion now, and she looked up as he came to a halt and got to his knees beside her. "I need to ask you a favor."

"Sure," She responded, hesitant.

"I ask that you would give me another chance." He placed his other hand over hers. She blinked.

"Another chance?" She echoed, bewildered. "You haven't done anything wrong, I just-"

"That's not what I mean." He interrupted. "I mean… I did not do a good job of… courting you." His eyes dropped to the ground. "It was presumptuous of me in the first place to assume that just because I love you that you should reciprocate. So, I suppose… I want to start over." He looked back up at her. "Try again. The right way, this time."

"I- of course." She'd been blushing since he said the word 'courting', mainly just because it was such a weird concept, but it didn't die down as the blonde tried to think of a better response. She didn't know what she expected upon seeing him again, maybe that he'd fallen out of love, or even that he was angry with her, but definitely not this. Not that she was complaining. "Yeah. That sounds good."

"Thank you." He rose to his feet again, and Heather was struck once more with deja vu. This time, she wasn't even sure where it came from. "I had a thought a couple of weeks ago." He changed the subject. "Despite my attempts to protect you, you've found yourself in far too many dangerous situations."

"True." She ran through her head all the times she'd gotten kidnapped. "Yeah."

"I can't always guarantee your safety," Herobrine continued. "But I can make an attempt to prepare you should you be placed in danger. If you are willing, I'd like to teach you how to fight."


303 dropped his backpack on the floor and collapsed face-down into his mattress. One hand found its way to his ribs, which were definitely bruised and possibly broken. He grimaced, glad he could at least make it to his room before dad noticed something amiss.

His stomach growled, and 303 heaved a sigh. He'd have to go back out and get something to eat, he was too hungry right now to work on getting himself back. By midnight, though, he should be able to send himself back to his base.

Flipping over onto his back, 303 stared up at the chipped paint on the ceiling of his room. His body ached from the stress of the day, and he wished he could just regenerate his form like his virtual one. The pain was a stark and physical reminder of why he wanted to be in the other realm so badly, where he had even a little bit of control over his situation.

Letting out a breath, 303 let his eyes fall shut. His stomach pricked with hunger, but he ignored it, letting drowsiness dull his senses. He had time for a quick nap, the pain should wake him up soon enough anyway. Assured of this by the twinges of pain running from his chest as he shifted, the teen doesn't fight as his body succumbed to sleep.

At around 11:30 PM that night, 303's door opened a slit, a beam of light falling on the sleeping form on the bed, before it closed with a click and the room was overtaken by darkness once more.


~FFF