A/N: I'm really hoping this didn't get too OOC, I really tried, but idk. let me know in the reviews what you think.
I also fear this may not be as "mushy" as hoped for, but considering this is a "kids" show and I to an extant am romance intolerant, this will have to suffice.
Happy Birthday JoverShipper! I tried to get this out in time but I'm not sure I did. If that's the case, sorry but tbh it's my shoulder angel's fault
hope you love it! if not there's no receipt
my bad :p
One Week Later
"Now get out of my sight you fool," Julienne waved her paw dismissively at the lemur in front of her, the last of many who had come to confirm the rumors. Upon his exit she swiveled in the pilot's chair to face her husband, her expression one of disgust, "all of this interaction with the lower class makes me feel dirty." She clawed at her shoulders in frustration, "Oh dear, I must've caught one of their diseases, I'm so horribly itchy."
"Um hello?" A tentative knock followed by a furry brown head peaking into the room caught the royals' attention. Another one? She whispered harshly at Barty in annoyance.
"Yes," he drawled, studying his fingernails with interest, "the amount of filth in this kingdom never ceases to amaze me."
Julienne huffed and smoothed her fur, beckoning for the lemur to come in. Timidly he made his way to the throne, giving a reverent bow and a quick glance to the two lemurs on either side of the chair, before directing his attention to the princess.
"Good morning your majesties! What lovely weather we're having today," Ted said cheerfully.
"Indeed," Julienne grumbled.
Laughing nervously in an attempt to ease the uncomfortable tension in the room, he scratched the back of his neck, eyes on Julien even as he addressed his mother, "I uh-I was just looking for some help with..." he swallowed awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot under Julienne's judgemental glare, "well it's just that no one's really seen Clover since last week and I have to be honest, I'm getting kind of worried-"
"Don't you dare," Juliennne's vicious snarl made Ted jump; Julien flinched, "mention that name in our presence."
Taking in a deep breath she leaned back in her chair, ignoring the way Ted fretted with his hands. "She's caused enough damage already. The amount of people who have come in here, with the undignified notion that she and my son-" she shuddered, rubbing her head to stave off a headache as she released a sigh, "that they even think a member of this family would associate themselves with her, in a manner that was anything more than brief charitable conversation, simply disgusts me."
Ted turned to Julien for his intervention; the king sat on the floor, his head resting in his palms and his elbows perched on his knees with the most miserable expression Ted had ever seen him wear plastered on his face. The entire conversation he hadn't looked up once and Ted relinquished the hope that Julien would do something to help, returning his attention to the princess and her intense scowl.
"So..." he drawled, "does this mean you won't give her therapy lessons? Cause she needed them before this whole shindig and now she's probably completely "cuckoo"!" He laughed good-naturedly, "If you know what I mean."
"Young man," Barty sighed, stopping his mission of straightening ever single piece of fur on his body into place, fixing Ted with a disapproving look, "It is all well and good that Clover has decided to shun the kingdom and flee from us like a coward," Julien lifted his gaze for a brief moment and had anyone been paying attention, they would have clearly seen the anger that gleaned in his eyes, "if she were to show herself I assure you, she would just as soon be properly banished or executed for stepping foot anywhere near my son again."
Ted laughed, more awkward than ever. "Yay!" He cheered while backing away, eyeing the curtains and making to bolt, "I just love democracy in action."
"Good on you then," Barty jerked his chin at Ted, "And say, if you do find that scoundrelous shrew, be sure to tell her she is to come here at once. I'd like to get this entire matter over and done with as quickly as possible."
Ted opened his mouth; it wasn't that he didn't know where Clover was. Although she had been missing for the first few days after the royals arrival, it had become pretty obvious when she had returned from wherever, as her hut's door and windows had stayed closed to prying eyes and concerned friends ever since. Suddenly realizing this information wouldn't help Clover's situation at all, he just as quickly shut his jaw and swallowing again, backed swiftly out of the room.
Julienne wrinkled her noise in disdain, watching as the crowned lemur hurriedly exited the room. With a sigh of clear annoyance she turned the chair to face her son.
"Jordan!"
Julien jumped, caught off guard by the address (even if it was wrong) and lifted his gaze up to his mother.
Frowning, Julienne crossed her arms across her chest, glaring at the other ringtail sternly.
"I'm not sure you quite understand the gravity of this situation. Otherwise you would be helping your father and I dispel of the problem rather than staring at the dirty floor like an uncomprehending simpleton."
"Your mother's right old boy," Barty brushed off his medal casually before straightening out his tux, "It certainly is a good thing for you that we arrived here when we did. Otherwise our family's name would've become dirtied and unimportant just like everything else on this disgusting planet."
"Oh Barty, don't speak of such things."
"I didn't mean to upset you dear," he replied softly, moving around the throne carefully so as to stand in front of Julien, "Son, do live up to your title by at least sitting on something other than the floor."
Julien made no move to get up, refusing to even meet his father's gaze as he mumbled something unintelligible.
"Jared!" Julienne snapped, what little patience she possessed having dwindled to a mere speck hours ago, "What have your father and I told you about speaking clearly?"
"I said-" he glared at his parents, his voice having more of a bite to it then he'd intended, "I'm not banishing Clover- or having her executed- or-or anything! And neither are you ok?" His voice softened considerably, "She's my friend."
Julienne narrowed her eyes, both she and her husband clearly showing their disapproval of Julien's tone but choosing not to voice it, "It seems she doesn't feel quite the same way about you. And that's the whole problem; she wanted to have more than just your friendship because apparently you even fraternizing with a commoner like herself wasn't enough. And I will not have anyone in our family associated with her, especially you, from this moment forth."
Julien shot to his feet in anger, his fists clenched with mouth and eyes twisted into a scowl.
"I'm not telling her to leave!" He snapped his retort this time, startling his parents even more.
"Goodness gracious, don't raise your voice at us like that young man!" Julienne scolded as she wagged one of her long grey fingers in her son's direction, "You will do as we say because we are your parents and we know what's best for you."
"No you don't!" Julien shot back, practically vibrating with hostility, "You don't know what's best for me-how could you? Out of the twenty two crazy years of life I've had, you've only been there for three." Water started to gather in his eyes for a seemingly non-existent reason and he suddenly wished for Maurice to come in and make everything better. The only person who, no matter what the two lemurs in front of him claimed, would always be his mother and father. No matter how much he had longed for his parents, sitting in the highest limb of the tallest tree for hours ever since he could climb, looking for a sign- anything, to tell him they were coming home; no matter how much his heart had ached for the "mother" and "big papi" sized holes in it to be filled over the course of his life, it had always been just a little bit empty. And he'd grown used to it. He'd always longed for his parents, for their approval, doing everything and anything they told him to do in the hopes of pleasing them, of righting the unspoken wrong he had done so long ago to make them leave. But standing there in front of them now as they insulted someone he cared about, someone he loved, he felt unspeakable disappointment. This was what he'd been longing for his whole life and they couldn't even remember his name. They couldn't bother to be there for him when he had needed them so desperately, but they felt they had the right to pick apart the life he had proudly built for himself? To hurt and abuse the people who actually cared about them when they couldn't be bothered to?
Because when he was five and scared of the dark, huddled in the corner of his bed, unable to sleep while tears pooled in his eyes, who had come in with Captain Booty Butt, a jar of fireflies, and a promise to always keep him safe? When just days ago he had been more sick and miserable than he remembered being in a long time, who had stayed by his side, taking care of him, telling him stories, and making sure that if he had to feel horrible at least he didn't have to feel alone?
It wasn't them. It was never them.
He let out a shaky exhale, not even sure what he was doing at this point, just knowing it needed to be done.
Barty sighed softly and apologetically reached for Julien's arm even as Julien backed away. "Jason..."
"That's not my name!" It came out as more of a screech than anything else and managed to scare all three of them half to death. Julienne and Barty halted in their approach, both stunned into silence and stillness.
"You're supposed to be my parents," he mumbled helplessly, arms dropping to his sides in defeat, "and you don't even know my name."
"Honey, of course we know your name," Julienne murmured in what was meant to be a soothing tone, reaching out to touch his face, "It just slipped our minds for a minute."
Julien pulled back again, shaking his head, "But it doesn't ever slip Clover and Maurice's brains," he sniffled softly, "They've always been there for me. And I don't care if that's improper, or unroyally of me or-whatever, they're my family, and..." not you. He didn't dare add that last part, as badly as his parents treated him he could never cut them off like that.
"Jas-"Julienne stopped herself, choosing to use a term of endearment rather than trying to play the name game, "Sweetie, you don't mean that. They're not even royalty. And we're really talking about Clover? Her inability to control her emotions caused nearly irreversible damage; can you imagine?" her gaze met Barty's, horror clearly showing in her eyes, "Word of these things always spread, we'd go home and be known as "the royal commoners", our image completely ruined by you even making contact with such a wild and by royal standards, completely inadequate girl." She shuddered at the thought, her expression softening as she turned her attention back to Julien. "After we banish her and this all quiets down, your father and I were planning on staying here for awhile, just to make sure things run smoothly and all. And of course we'll be making some minor changes so this won't happen again. However you must get rid of her as soon as possible; I do believe if I see her again I'll faint."
Julien wrinkled his nose angrily, his nails digging so hard into his palms he knew crescent imprints would make themselves known later. Chest heaving Julien spun on his heel and headed for the door.
"Son!" Barty called out, "Where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going-" he snapped his barely controlled rage kept carefully in check, "to find Clover."
The sigh of relief from his parents was nauseating.
Needing air before he did something he'd regret, he stormed out as quickly as possible.
"I have something I need to tell her."
The knocking made her flinch.
It wasn't as if she was surprised by it, she knew someone would come by today eventually. She just didn't want them too.
The pounding started again, louder this time.
Apparently her visitor wasn't taking the hint.
Go away.
Dear Frank, was that her? Her voice had sounded like there was something lodged in her throat, slowly strangling her until she could no longer breath...fading away from existence...
The bang made her fall out of bed.
"Ow! My foot!" the intruder yelped, "why is your door so hard? I think I broke something..."
Putting her hands on her bed Clover quickly pulled herself to her feet upon hearing the voice.
"King Julien?" Voice wavering like she was about to cry again. Which she wasn't...but she had multiple times over the course of the week, and today was no exception. Horrified she rubbed her hands under her eyes and over her face to hide all possible evidence.
Not like the tissues littering the floor were enough to close the case all by themselves.
Now hobbling in her doorway and panting through the pain Julien ceased his hopping and dropped his supposedly injured foot to the ground.
"I think I need a toe cast."
Clover watched Julien dully.
"What are you doing here?" It came out as more of a statement then a question, because inflection required more energy than Clover was willing to exert right now.
"Uh..." Julien droned as he glanced around the room, the wad of tissues not escaping his notice, "I wanted to talk to you?"
Wearily she gestured to her bed and they both took a seat on it. Julien let his gaze wander again, noticing for the first time how messy Clover's house was. There were holes and dents in random places (presumably from frustrated punches), broken furniture, and overturned chairs among other things. Now more concerned then before Julien turned his attention back to his friend, taking in her unkempt fur and miserable expression, the one every face is forced to take on after a fit of crying.
The guilt he had felt building like a rolling ball of snow in his stomach all week suddenly gained just a little more speed in its downhill descent.
Uncomfortable under Julien's assessing eyes she let out a sigh that sounded as if she were carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. "What do you want to talk about."
Short and snappish. Tired of the world and its continuous disappointments.
Julien swallowed, unsure of where to start. He had tried mapping out what he needed to say on his way over, but nothing had seemed quite right.
"Clover..."
"You don't need to explain anything." She rushed quickly shaking her head as she studied her hands and dang it why was her vision blurring again?
"I," swallow, "I made a mistake. I shouldn't have,"she swallowed again, her voice wavering slightly, "I shouldn't have..."
And maybe he had been ready for the shouting and and the glares, for the tantrums that always followed with furniture being tossed around like rag dolls.
He'd even found a loophole for the silent treatment.
The broken sob that suddenly ripped itself from Clover's throat certainly didn't make the list of things he'd been expecting.
Didn't even come close.
Concern for his friend suddenly became so overwhelming that he dared put a hand on her shoulder in hopes of providing comfort.
"Please Julien..." voice breaking as she begged, the fact that she hadn't used his title somehow failing to escape him; the snowball's increasing speed beginning to make him nauseous.
"Please don't hate me."
And with that Clover dropped her face in her hands and Julien watched helpless as her body shook from her silent cries. Watching as one of the few people he cared about fell apart right in front of him. Watching as the consequences of his indecision, his inability to take the final few steps every time he had come to her house that week, to knock on the door and simply fix this, finally made themselves.
Clover continued to cry.
The snowball plowed on.
It was somewhere between the two that he finally figured out what to do. What he should've done the second Clover had walked into the cockpit one week before.
"Clo-clo," Julien's voice was soft as he gently touched his paw to Clover's cheek.
"Hey."
Clover lifted her watery eyes and tear-stained face to watch Julien; shivering at the unexpected contact, her confusion at his un-hysterical reaction to the whole thing clearly showing in her expression.
Julien took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to say, and scooted closer to his bodyguard, taking her face in both of his hands and locking his gaze with hers.
"I invited Crimson to the party."
Clover suddenly choked, completely taken aback by the complete 180 because-wow, random much?
"I-I know that-what?" She pulled away, any feeling of sadness quickly making room for her astounding inability to comprehend what the Frank was happening.
Was he seriously still crushing on her sister.
Julien sighed and dropped his hands on the bed, "I invited Crimson to the party," he stated again, as if that simple fact would fix all the problems in the world.
As if it would fix them.
"I-I don't understand..."
The ringtail stared off into the distance for a moment, trying to put together the right words for what he was going to say.
"I invited Crimson to the party, because..." his voice trailed off as he looked at the floor. When he lifted his eyes again, he had a sheepish expression on his face, "I wanted her to talk to you."
Clover watched him, still not understanding. Sighing he began to explain.
"Clo-clo...I know because I'm the king and all, you expect me to be perfect at everything."
Clover huffed, rolling her eyes. Julien chose to ignore it.
"But the truth is, there's some things even I'm not amazing at," he nudged her playfully, "But only a few."
Clover's lips twitched; most people would've seen it as a common lemur tic and nothing more.
But Julien knew. Because he knew her. Just like he knew she had been on the verge of a smile. And that simple fact gave him the ability to continue.
"Clover." He took her paw in his hands and ducked his head in an attempt to catch her eyes. Sighing, she lifted her gaze, her hand becoming unnaturally sweaty.
"I wanted Crimson to talk to you about..." he shifted uncomfortably on the bed, "it was something-important- but I didn't really know how to tell you all by myself, and since she's your sister..." His voice trailed off again, gaze wandering back to the door.
"I guess she didn't though."
He let go of her hand, wringing his paws nervously, "I don't really know how to...I'm not sure what-" He ceased his ramblings to watch Clover carefully.
The soft rustle of the breeze as it passed through leaves seemed to quiet suddenly along with the far off constant commotion that accompanied life in the jungle. The sound of the two lemur's now in-sync breaths the only noise to be heard as they continued to look at each other, and stare, and-
Slowly leaning closer, neither even realizing they were doing it, eyes slipping shut, lips touching seemingly of their own accord.
The parts of Clover that had been slowly deteriorating over the course of the previous week began to piece themselves back together.
The snowball finally found solid ground.
And for just a moment, all was right with the world.
"So wait-let me get this straight," Clover rolled her head to the side to eye Julien; the grin on her face only serving to encourage his pouting.
"You told my sister-who you hate- to tell me that you loved me because you were to chicken to do it yourself?" The bright laugh that followed had Clover almost in tears for reasons she couldn't comprehend.
The two had been laying on the bed and talking about recent events, just like old times, for around a half hour. Julien frowned at his bodyguard more fiercely, not finding her humiliation of him quite as amusing.
"You're such a wuss," the following slap to his arm had him grabbing at his shoulder in pain, an affronted yelp accompanying the movement.
"Ow!" He whined, rubbing his arm, "And I told you like five times already! It's not that funny, why do you keep laughing about it?"
"Because!" As if that answered the question, "I mean, I was clearly nervous but at least I wasn't going to get someone to do it for me."
Julien rolled back to stare at the ceiling.
"Well good for you," he sneered in response. Clover propped herself up on her elbow, all signs of lightheartedness gone from her face.
"Julien?" she waited until he looked at her, "What about your parents? I'm sure they won't..." Her voice trailed off.
The ringtail sighed, "I know. But I don't really care anymore. I don't need them-I have you and Maurice-" Clover raised her eyebrow at him and he grumbled, "and Mort...having my parents around was nice but," he turned to her again, now mirroring her position, "extra I guess." He looked down at the bed's comforter sadly. Clover reached out, gently cupping the side of his face with her hand, brushing her thumb against his cheek affectionately in an attempt at comfort.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, "I know how much you wanted this to work out."
Julien leaned against her touch, giving her a small smile in return, "It's ok."
And he meant it.
Both laid back down in comfortable silence, simply enjoying each other's company and the soft afterglow of everything that had come to pass between them.
Clover sighed in contentment, letting her eyes drift shut with the knowledge that Julien wouldn't be going anywhere. And neither was she.
"I love you."
It rolled off her tongue easier than it ever had before. Perhaps it had something to do with it this time being true.
Julien folded his arms under his head and grinned to himself.
"Who doesn't?"
The not quite unexpected kick to his shin was totally worth the "I-can't-believe-you-right-now" look on Clover's face.
Seconds ticked by and in an attempt to avoid another blow, he pressed up against Clover's side, snuggling his head into the small of her neck and throwing an arm around her middle.
"I love you too."
this was supposed to be the last chapter but I got tired of spending so much time on writing so I decided to stop it here. The only proofreading done was by my shoulder angel and he really sucks at his job
but considering how many times I've had to revise previous chapters, ya'll probably knew that already.
I'm also super tired right now so if I sound kind of snappish? please bear with me. I started school last week and with work and this it's quite a bit. I also stay up late watching TV and I'm pretty sure? that's not really helping. But I'll choose my fandoms over my sanity any day. *grabs pitchfork and torch* Who's with me?!
I have been drowning in a sea of reviews ever since you know who so if I miss someone? I'm really sorry, I just can't go through 184 reviews and figure out who's who. I'll try though
You're Great: I tried to write some schoompy stuff for you. and I noticed you changed the g, that's so sweet uwu hope you're doing ok in this heck of a year
Lemur forest fairy nerd: that's so sweet of you to say ^^ and I got you into fanfiction? *gasp* I feel really honored bc Fanfiction is like my favorite thing ever (I have read SO MUCH) and I'm so happy I was able to introduce someone else to this amazing site too.
I'm glad it helps you through things that get you down, having stuff that can do that is IMPORTANT. It just makes me really happy that it's my creation that does :D thanks for being awesome :)
FunkyFrank: I can't find your review for some reason but I remember you saying something about a horror ahkj fic? And like, I'm so on board? Halloween is coming up and all...
JoverShipper: There's...too many. I HAVE read them all but like I said. Tired. I really did want to get this out for your birthday but I feel like I missed it. Also I heard you got stuck in that stupid vortex, it's got a faulty door and it kinda just sucks up random people all the time. Sorry about that here's the key though O- (yes I know it doesn't look like a key; it's abstract, isn't it beautiful?). Thanks for all the time you spend sending reviews though, love getting the emails and no I'm not dead (I have to approve guest reviews so if you're reviews don't show up on the story? then you can assume I'm dead) otherwise I should be functioning on a level between half asleep and extremely lazy.
I hope you had a good Birthday though (it sounds like you did uwu)
Peace out,
Netflix Original