Wander over Yonder Season 3
Behind a nearby planet, Dominator's former ship hid from sight.
"So she's on that planet?" Wander asked while in the command room.
"Tracking the escape pod leads us here" Whirry confirms while Beep Boop operated several of the controls.
"So buddy, what's the plan?" Sylvia asks standing by Wander.
Wander thinks for a moment.
"Syl... I'm going to do something I should have done long ago" Wander says with a determined look on his face.
"You are? What?" Sylvia asks leaning in.
"I'm going to talk to her" Wander responds.
"...Th-that's it!?" Sylvia asks aloud. "I was hoping we'd let her stew in her own misery for a bit. Teach her a lesson!"
"I know the usual go-to routine is revenge but I don't want that" Wander says. "I want to turn her around. Syl, please at least give me a chance to speak to her. If it doesn't go well, we can proceed with fair and humane disciplinary action."
Sylvia gives Wander a long, hard look. Wander returns with a long, hard look of his own.
"You've spoken to her before."
"I just ask for a second chance."
Sylvia sighs.
"It's never easy saying 'no' to you" Sylvia says. "..Okay buddy. We'll keep an eye from up here. She tries a fast one, I'm jumping in myself!"
"Thanks Syl!" Wander says hugging his long-time friend.
"You're welcome buddy!" Sylvia says. "Good luck!"
All on his own, he exits the Domship and travels via bubble heading for the supposed location of Dominator's escape pod. Once close enough to the planet, he surveys the empty terrain below. Eventually, the escape pod comes into view.
-=episode title=-
THE SILENCE
-=episode title=-
Wander's bubble pops dropping him safely and within walking distance. He approaches and circles the pod wondering if it was appropriate to look into the small vehicle but fearing for Dominator's welfare, he knew he eventually had to.
To just get it out of the way, he pokes his head into the pod and finds a sleeping Dominator covered in dust and dirt from head to toe. As evil as she could be, Wander could never deny that, like her sneezing, there was something adorable about the way she slept.
Wander is quick to pull away not wishing to be rude and gets to setting up a tent beside the pod.
Some time later, Dominator began to wake up rested but still troubled by her predicament.
"...I'm still here. This is no dream, of course I'm still here..." she thought sitting up. "Why wouldn't I still be here?.. I've earned this fate after all..."
After several minutes of post-nap worried contemplation, Dominator began to search through the pod seeking any supplies that could help.
"B-but I-I'll figure something out, I'm sure!" Dominator reassured herself. "I won't die starving and alone!" she says with a very grim expression. She finds signal flares and a half-empty tube of insta-lunch. Too hungry to care for taste, Dominator makes quick work of the tube. She tosses the now-empty tube out of the pod but in doing so, she notices the top of Wander's hat nearby.
"Eek!" Dominator lets out hiding in the pod, her hand slapping her mouth shut absolutely shocked at Wander's sudden presence. "Wh-what's he doing here!?" a reddened Dominator almost exclaimed.
Wander was the very last person Dominator wanted to see right now. The last time they had spoken, she had told Wander that they would meet again, that "the shattered spirits of the galaxy's happiest orange wanderer" would adorn the top of her villainous crown, and that he will have made her the greatest villain in the universe.
Instead of being a great success story like once before, Dominator had been defeated, deposed, covered in dust and dirt, and was in dire need of help. Intense embarrassment was the result.
Biting her knuckle to try to distract herself from her humiliation, Dominator swallows her pride and reveals herself.
"M-may I ask why you're here!?" she demands trying to keep on a tough front.
Wander simply looks up at her.
"I-I asked you a question! I demand an answer!" Dominator adds firmly.
Wander does not reply and still just stares. Dominator found this intensely uncomfortable but to her relief, Wander eventually looks away to dig into his tent to pull out two shovels. He hands one to Dominator.
"Wh-what? What's this!?" Dominator asks.
Wander still didn't say a word and began to walk away.
"Hey! Don't go!" Dominator says a little more softly, her tough front weakening easily.
With shoes removed, Wander felt the ground as he walked.
"Don't just go" Dominator protests catching up. "Tell me what's going on!"
Wander still didn't answer as if refusing to talk and just kept walking before stopping at a particular spot. He stabs the ground with his shovel and scoops out a portion of dirt. Wander then signaled for Dominator to do the same.
"You want me to dig?" Dominator asks and Wander nods. "Tch! As if! Why should I?" she says folding her arms.
Wander keeps quiet and continues digging: one scoop. Another scoop. Third scoop. Fourth scoop.
Quickly overcome with guilt, a rare emotion for her, Dominator picked up her shovel and joined in. Now with the two working together, the hole became bigger and deeper.
"Not sure what we're digging for but if it matters that much to you, I-" Dominator stops when water starts to spray out of the carved-up ground. "So that was it was it?.."
Wander still says nothing as both climb out and the hole filled with water. After testing the water to confirm its safety, Wander heads back to the tent.
Dominator moves to follow but stops halfway. The intense worry and isolation she was feeling earlier was gone. Though she had lost so much, having Wander there made her feel as though things would eventually work out and be okay.
If she were a little more honest with herself, Dominator would admit she had been missing Wander.
Wander returns with a shower curtain in hand and sets it up around the now-overflowing water hole.
"I sense you're telling me something" Dominator said.
Wander nods and hands Dominator shower supplies as well as a fresh change of her clothes in a tightly-sealed plastic bag. The lime green villainess then looks herself over.
"Point taken" Dominator says accepting the supplies. "Y-yeah! You better walk away!" Dominator warned as Wander walks away to allow Dominator the privacy he was certain she would surely demand. "Y-you better not try to peek!"
After some rinsing and scrubbing and Dominator peeking out of the shower to make doubly sure Wander wasn't trying to sneak a peek and scrubbing and rinsing, Dominator walks out of the shower dressed and feeling refreshed.
"Wow! I needed that!" she declares. She heads back to the pod where Wander was rummaging through the tent. This is when she encounters her next predicament. "So now what? What do we talk about?"
Dominator knew what had to be talked about: her betraying him when he was working so hard to help and befriend her. Dominator opens her mouth before immediately closing it. It wasn't going to be easy. Before she could try again, Wander withdraws a small bag of what looked like seeds. Armed with several gardening tools, Wander gets to work. With a trowel, he begins to dig small holes in neat rows.
"Wander... Looks like you're going to plant some seeds. Would you like some help?" Dominator asks.
Wander's initial expression is one of surprise. He at first objects pointing towards the makeshift bath.
"Oh! Right! I just got cleaned up" Dominator acknowledges. "...That's okay. I want to help. I can rinse again if needed."
Wander goes from surprised to broadcasting a smile. He picks up the bag of seeds and, without speaking, demonstrates that only one seed is to go per hole.
"One seed per hole, right?" Dominator asks and Wander nods. "O-okay, will do. Should I cover it up after?"
Wander nods again then resumes his digging with Dominator not far behind dropping a seed into every hole and covering holes up shortly after. Once done, they had before them a moderately-sized plot of land with seeds planted in neat rows.
"I've never done something like this before" Dominator points out. "What comes next?"
Wander heads for his tent to fetch a watering can.
"Oh! Watering! Of course" Dominator says. "Mind if I fetch the water?" With watering can in hand, Dominator fills it up at the water hole and returns. "Is it okay if I water them too?"
Wander nods and Dominator walked slowly watering the plot of land as she went. Wander was close behind sticking small vertical sticks into the ground.
Wander and Dominator's little garden had been seeded, watered, and readied.
Now both sat in front of the garden and waited. During the wait, Wander pulls out his banjo and begins playing a series of relaxing melodies.
"I almost forgot you played the banjo" Dominator says making Wander stop playing. "No, don't stop. That sounded nice."
Wander smiles and continues for several soothing minutes.
"...I'm curious to know what the little sticks are for" Dominator says. Wander points at his wrist as if indicating a wristwatch. Dominator wasn't sure what Wander was getting at and figured it would become clear in due time. A more important matter was starting to press on Dominator's mind.
For whatever reason, the usually-talkative and approachable Wander wasn't speaking to her. She wanted to bring it up to Wander but she was afraid to. Afraid to find out that even Wander, one of the most kind and patient souls in the galaxy, was growing tired of her or worse, was starting to hate her.
"S-so" Dominator begins, "wh-what have you been up to?"
Wander points to the freshly-seeded plot of land prompting Dominator to giggle.
"Hehehe! I know that" Dominator answers. "I mean, h-have you made new friends or..." Having spied on Wander and Sylvia through Whirry, Dominator had a good idea of what Wander had been up to.
Still not breaking his silence, Wander nods softly.
"Oh!.. That's good to hear..." Dominator says. "I've been busy..." she goes on but stops unsure of how talk about how she had been trying to get back to what she used to do, something she was sure would not be to Wander's liking. "A, a lot has happened since we were last together. I'm learning that maybe... What I used to do is no longer for me... I've been wanting to try something else... What I'm trying to say is it's all starting to feel like a giant rat race. Th-the whole conquering planets thing."
Dominator notices Wander was now watching her intently which made her nervous. She then felt silly, fearful her thoughts hadn't come across clearly. Before she could continue, Wander quickly points towards their garden which had seen the smallest of stems sprouting out of the ground.
"Oh! Something's coming out!" Dominator says approaching carefully.
Wander then pulls out two feathers out of his hat and hands one to Dominator.
"What's this for?" Dominator asks and Wander gestures her to 'watch carefully'.
With the feather, Wander very gently and carefully caressed the very fragile stems to wrap around the vertical sticks.
"I see" Dominator says. "I'll do my best."
Together, the two gently guided several of the stems around the sticks properly. Dominator could feel herself straining from the effort fearful she would damage the stems but she was determined not to hurt the thin and fragile plants and help them as best she could.
One after another, both helped any stem in need of help wrap around its respective stick.
"I think that's all of them" Dominator declares continuing to revise the young garden. "...Wait! This one has no stem!"
Wander rushes to get a closer look and confirms there was a patch of ground that had no stem growing. With the greatest of care, he begins to clear away dirt with the feather until he spots a tiny portion of the stem. Now in the clear, the stem begins to grow out appropriately and with light touches of the feather, the stem wraps around the stick.
"Ya did it!" Dominator praises.
Wander gives Dominator a smile and a nod. He then urges her away and out of the garden.
"Hey! What's the hurry?" Dominator asks.
As soon as the two were out, the garden almost seemed to explode. The fragile little stems thickened, lengthened, sprouted leaves in all directions, flower buds in a number of other directions, and the early beginnings of fruits in still others.
"Wander, that was amazing!" Dominator admires.
Wander smiles her way again. Dominator could almost hear Wander's gentle voice say something like "with just a little bit of kindness, the frailest of seeds can grow into the mightiest of gardens!"
The flower buds then began to bloom revealing yellow petals.
"These flowers just bloomed" Dominator says before getting a closer look and finding them to look very familiar.
The flower was the same kind of yellow flower she once threatened to destroy in front of a distraught Sylvia and Wander.
She turns to face Wander who looked right back at her as if he had wanted to remind her of that wrong all along.
Dominator turns away ashamed. Why was she made to remember such an ugly memory when she was enjoying herself moments ago?
She's haunted by the yellow flower she wanted to destroy, the selfie she took mocking her victims, the sad faces on Wander and Sylvia during that confrontation. Even worse, more memories reared their ugly heads then and there: she's forced to relive using Wander to make her comeback and throwing away what she now acknowledges was a beautiful, now much-needed friendship in the making. She recalls tormenting the little orange wanderer too many times and even trying to kill both Wander and Sylvia and Wander still trying to befriend her regardless.
Wander made her remember these things as though this was his way of getting back at her but she couldn't hold it against him. She made those memories after all and she truly didn't want to make any more.
"...Wander..." Dominator speaks up, "I'm not sure I'll ever understand why you still put up with me... I've done a lot to make you hate me and I'm sure, had you been anyone else, you'd have given up on me a long time ago..."
Wander stands still and stays silent wanting to just provide Dominator an excellent listener.
"One of the closest things I had resembling a family chased me right out of my own ship!.. N-not that I blame them. I treated them like mere pawns" Dominator said surprised she was starting to get emotional. "It makes sense they'd want to throw me away. I did just that to so many of them!.. And now I've lost so much and it's all my fault..."
Wander makes to speak but he stops himself at the last second while Dominator's eyes began to tear up.
"Most of what I've done, I can't take back... Wander, I made you my pawn too! A-and you must hate me now too! You won't speak to m-me anymore and it's all my fault!" Dominator repeats. "...W-Wander... I'm sorry!... I'm so, so sorry!.. If I could take it all back, I would in a heartbeat!.. If I c-could redo things, I would not hesitate to do so much better! T-to not take you for granted!.. To not throw you away!.."
A moment of silence ensues, a quiet only broken up by Dominator's restrained sobs.
"I fear it's too late now..." Dominator says. "What's done is done and I'm left with nothing but words... That's all I have left to offer... All I can give is a-an apology... P-please forgive me, Wander... I'm sorry. I'm very, very sorry..."
Another quiet takes place during which Dominator drags her forearm across her face to clean up some of her tears.
"...Th-that's all I ever wanted to hear" Wander's quivering voice is finally heard.
Dominator, relieved to finally hear Wander's gentle and soothing voice in person again after so long, turns around only to have Wander jump up into her arms and give her a mighty hug.
"W-Wander!? I-I thought y-you hated me!" Dominator sobs hugging back just as fiercely. "You weren't speaking to me!"
"I never hated you! I just w-wanted you to do all the talking" Wander reveals, tears in his eyes. "I could tell y-you had a lot on your mind. It's not g-good to bottle it all up!"
"Why a-are you crying!? I'm the one who should be crying!" Dominator says with tears sliding down her face.
"One shouldn't b-bottle up feelings either!" Wander answers.
Crying on each other's shoulders, the two stand there in each other's embrace for a while. Eventually, Dominator gets on her knees to allow Wander's feet to reach the ground but neither let go.
"You're too good to me, Wander. I swear I'm not losing you ever again!" Dominator promised.
"I don't want to lose you either!" Wander answers.
Back on the Domship, with help of a Probe Dombot, Sylvia was watching the two below through moist eyes.
"Dominator, I swear" Sylvia says, "if he wasn't my best friend, I'd have left you there to stew in your own misery!.. Consider yourself very lucky!"