Gumball wasn't sure if he had been crying for a minute or an hour. It was like a million emotions came flooding out of him all at once. Relief, anger, happiness, grief, it all came pouring through in his tears. He clung to his family like they were a life raft, keeping him afloat. His family returned the embrace, most of them not entirely sure what just happened but clearly being able to see that Gumball needed them right then. The rest of the town stood back, letting the family have their moment. "Gumball? Gumball, hey. It's ok. It's ok." Darwin told him while holding him close. Truth be told, he was also feeling a bit shaken up by everything that happened in The Void. He really thought that he was going to die for a second there. And if that was what he was feeling, he couldn't imagine what Gumball was going through right now. After everything with The Void, not to mention whatever he had gotten into during his time travel escapades, it was no wonder that he was being so emotional.

"Darwin?" Gumball choked out between his tears. "Did that really just happen? Is the Void really gone? It's not coming back?" Darwin's heart broke at Gumball's tone. He had never heard Gumball sound so unsure of himself before. Gumball had always put on a veneer of confidence, even when it was clear that he wasn't, but that had completely fallen away now.

"It's not. You made sure of that." He reassured him. "You did it Gumball, you saved the world!"

"I really did, didn't I?" Gumball said, a bit of laughter now being mixed in with the tears. "I really did it, I actually saved the world. I can't believe I just did that."

"I can." Darwin told him. "I knew you could pull it off, you always do."

"Darwin? Did you mean all of that stuff you said back there? Or were you just trying to get me to snap out of it?" Gumball asked. Darwin was surprised that he even had to ask. Didn't he know the answer by now?

"Of course I meant it Gumball. You know how much you mean to me." Gumball nodded, he did know that. He had doubts about many things, but Darwin's loyalty was not one of them. He just didn't think he thought of him as highly as he did.

"I love you." Gumball said through his tears. "Thank you for always being there for me, even when I didn't deserve it."

"Of course." Darwin replied. "Besides, you've always returned the favor. Don't think I didn't notice that you almost gave up the notebook for me. That was stupid, but it was also very sweet." Gumball and Darwin kept hugging for a bit until Anais cleared her throat to get Gumball's attention.

"Sorry, I don't mean to break up the moment here but can you please explain to me what the heck just happened?" Anais broke in. "What was up with that static? Where did it come from? And how did you defeat it with that notebook thing?"

"It's a really long story." Gumball admitted. "I promise I'll tell you guys everything. But not right now, ok? Later. It'll take a really long time to explain, and that's not even getting into all the stuff with R-" He grimaced and cut himself off there. He couldn't say that name, not yet. He tore his gaze from his family and gave a longing look towards the area where Rob fell. There were no static and platforms anymore, but it still happened around there. Darwin noticed Gumball's discomfort and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Are you ok?" He asked, concerned. Gumball didn't tear his gaze away from the area, but he gave a small nod.

"I will be."

"Are you sure? I know he meant a lot to you."

"He does." Gumball said simply. "Which is why I….kinda wrote something else in that notebook." As if it were waiting for its cue, the area where Gumball was looking started to...shimmer almost. As if there was a ripple in reality. There was another bright flash and Rob appeared, looking like he did in season 2. Rob was looking around, a little dazed and wondering just how he got here. Darwin's eyes widened as he pieced together what happened. Usually he would be against resurrections and would be lecturing Gumball about it, but he could make an exception in this case.

"Rob!" Gumball shouted in relief. He ran over and hugged Rob with such force that he almost caused him to fall, but he managed to steady himself just in time. "I'm so glad to see you again! I thought I had lost you forever!" He said, crying into Rob's chest. Rob just looked at Gumball in bewilderment, in shock that he was somehow alive. The last thing he remembered was plummeting and crumbling apart in The Void. How did he get back here? He gave himself a once-over and his eye widened as he discovered that both of his hands were pink again. He flexed his fingers to make sure they were actually attached to him. Was he….was he back in his old body? How was that possible?

"Did you...did you do this?" Rob asked. Gumball nodded.

"Of course I did. I couldn't just let you die." Rob's eye widened even more. So he had died, he didn't imagine that. But then how was he here? Did Gumball bring him back somehow?

"But-but why?" Rob stuttered. Gumball lifted his head off his chest and gave him a confused and slightly concerned look.

"What do you mean why? Because I care about you, you idiot! Can you really not see that by now?" Rob was once again thrown by his answer. Yes, he had figured that Gumball had started to care about him, but not to this extent.

"But why would you care about me after everything I did to you?" Rob asked in confusion. Gumball gave a stern look at this statement.

"Yeah, everything you did to me including saving my life, cheering me up when I was sad, going back in time to fix everything for me, giving me some of the greatest adventures of my life, and standing up to The Void for me." Gumball responded. "And what have I done for you in return? I couldn't even save you from The Void today. I should be the one begging you for forgiveness. I'm so sorry Rob." Gumball sobbed into Rob's chest for a bit when he felt long arms reaching around his back. Could it be? Rob was hugging him back? He had never done that before.

"But you did save me. I wouldn't be here right now if you didn't save me."

"But...I should've…."

"You did everything you could." Rob interrupted. "The Void can be ruthless, I know that very well by now. It's not your fault you couldn't stop it."

"I'm still sorry." Gumball said. "You mean a lot to me Rob, and I didn't realize that until you were gone. I just wish I'd figured it out sooner. Maybe things would've been different." Gumball hugged Rob tighter after saying this, leaving Rob floored.

"Do you….do you really mean that? He asked, stunned.

"Of course I do. And I don't intend on ever forgetting that, or you, ever again. Face it Rob, you're stuck with me now." Rob didn't know what to say to that, so he let Gumball keep hugging him. He hadn't been hugged in a while, he'd forgotten how nice it felt. Especially since he didn't have to worry about accidentally shocking someone with his static anymore. Right, he should probably ask about that. He had almost forgotten about it since so much of his attention was on the blue cat currently soaking his shirt with his tears.

"But why give me my old body back?" He asked. Gumball broke the hug at this question and wiped his tears away, trying to pull himself together. Rob probably had a lot of questions and he should probably be at least semi-coherent when giving him the answers.

"I kinda figured that I owed you one. It was kinda my fault that you got disfigured in the first place."

"And The Void? What happened with that while I was….while I was gone?" Rob asked cautiously. He looked around and it seemed like everything was back to normal. Did this mean what he hoped it did? Did Gumball actually manage to save everyone?

"The Void's gone dude. It's never gonna trap you, or kill you, or anything like that ever again." Rob let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. It was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Ever since he had first escaped, he was terrified that The Void would realize that he didn't belong and pull him back. That if he wasn't a good enough villain, he would be trapped there again. But it was gone now, it couldn't hurt him anymore. He couldn't go back to a place that no longer existed.

"So you…..you actually destroyed it?" Rob asked, flabbergasted. Gumball nodded. "But how?"

"Same way I brought you back, I used the notebook." He said while waving it around. "It turns out that not even The Void can affect stuff from the real world."

"Wow." Rob said, looking at the notebook with awe and a dash of fear. As glad as he was that Gumball had used it, it could potentially be very dangerous. "So what are we going to do with this thing now? Honestly, I'm afraid of what will happen if we let you keep it. No offense."

"None taken, I would absolutely go mad with power." Gumball admitted. "But we definitely don't want this to fall into the wrong hands." Rob grimaced, imagine what someone could do with a tool that could rewrite all of reality in an instant. They had just stopped one apocalypse, they didn't need another one. Gumball contemplated it for a bit until his eyes lit up and he wrote something in the notebook. The next second the notebook disappeared.

"Wait, what did you do?" Rob asked.

"I sent it back to the real world, where it belongs." Gumball explained. "Don't worry, it'll come back if we really need it again. But hopefully we won't." Rob nodded, that made sense. It shouldn't cause any harm there, and if worse did come to worse they wouldn't have to journey to the real world again, especially since they'd gotten rid of the only way of getting there. "So, what now?" Gumball asked. "the show is over and we're no longer in immediate danger, so we can do whatever we want."

"I don't know." Rob realized. He'd spent so much time fighting for his freedom, that he had no idea what to do once he finally had it. But he did know one thing, he wasn't going to be the bad guy anymore. He didn't have to play a role in order to stay. He could choose who he wanted to be. "But that's the best part, don't you think? We get to choose what happens next. We don't have a script to follow. We could literally do anything."

"That sounds terrifying." Gumball admitted. Like Rob had said at the beginning of this whole adventure, there were no more end credits to come along and save him. But on the other hand, the universe wouldn't throw him into any more wacky situations for the sake of a plot. He would have to live and die on his own merits. Figure out who he was beyond the script. "But it sounds kind of exciting too."

"Well, I know you, and you've never been one to back down from a challenge." Gumball gave a small smile at this. Rob was right. If he could stand up to The Void and save the world he could certainly make his own choices on how to live his life. It would definitely be an adventure, and he had a bit of a knack for those.

"Well, I guess we'll have to figure this out as we go along." Gumball said. "I'm up for it if you are." Rob slowly gave Gumball a small smile in return.

"Let's do it."

A/N: What? You didn't think I was going to kill Rob off permanently, did you? Nah, I don't have the heart to do that. I love him too much.