A/N: A short one…but an important one.

Chapter 17 – Crumbelina's Forgiveness

Crumbelina's pink glow could do nothing to mask her stunned shock.

"Snowanna did this to you?" she whispered almost inaudibly.

Gloyd nodded. "Yeah, she was pretty mad," he muttered. "I told you that you wouldn't like it. It's okay though, we-."

"No, it's not okay," Crumbelina suddenly interrupted, surprising Gloyd by how angry she now sounded. "This is unacceptable! Oh, Gloyd, I am so sorry you had to suffer that. Snowanna never liked you, no matter how much I tried to convince her that you had changed for the better. She never accepted you, and even worse, she could never accept that you were my friend. But this just…oh, this just crosses the line!"

Gloyd had only seen Crumbelina angry once before in his life, and that was when she had been glaring daggers directly at him after he had woken up from taking the fall of the flour sack prank that he had initially planned on her. But now she was livid. And even though her anger wasn't directed to him this time, Gloyd found himself wanting to back away from her.

Driven by an internal rising surge, Crumbelina grasped Gloyd's hand and tried to drag him back to the tower's exit hatch. "C'mon. We're going to find Snowanna and settle this once and for all," she huffed. "I've had enough of her attitude towards you. No one punches you and gets away with it. And if I can't make her see that you are my friend, then she can straight up find a new bestie…"

"Crumbelina, stop," Gloyd hissed, shocked that she would say such a thing. He clutched her hand back and tried to hold her still by giving a sharp tug, but pulled too hard; the sudden change in momentum caused Crumbelina to lurch backwards and lose her footing. With a high-pitched yelp, she collided with him, knocking them both against the tower's ledge; Gloyd felt the wind leave his stomach as Lina landed on him and his pumpkin hat slipped off to fall down the tower side into the dark depths.

Had Gloyd not tightly gripped the ledge to save them, they both may have tumbled off too. Recovering from the near miss, he suddenly found himself literally nose to nose with her, causing both kids to blush immensely. But the weight of Lina sprawled on his chest somehow whirred Gloyd's mind into action.

"Lina, will you just listen to me?" he spoke a mile a minute. "We talked it out, Snowanna doesn't hate me anymore."

The girl blinked once. "She doesn't?"

"No," he said strongly. "We…we talked our differences out. She confessed how she never liked me, but could see that I've changed. She saw how worried I was about you, which told her that I really care about you and regretted my mistake. Something I definitely wouldn't do if I were still the pranking jerk I once was."

"She also apologized for being a jerk to me," he added before Lina could speak, "I apologized for being a jerk to her, and we agreed to start over as friends. But I'm totally fine with Snowanna hating who I used to be because I hate who I used to be. I was rude, selfish, immature, and a big annoying prat. But after I met you, I changed. And I think tonight, she changed too."

Crumbelina stared at him, listening carefully. "I see…" she said at last. Realizing that she was still lying on top of him, she hastily got up and straightened out her askew jacket, her face as red as a freshly lit Cherry Bomb. "Well…th-that's good then," she stuttered. "But still, you shouldn't have had to lose two teeth for her to finally accept you. I knew she could have a temper, but not this badly."

Gloyd got back up too. "It's okay, Lina," he responded, putting both hands on her shoulders partly so he could still face her directly, but also so she couldn't get away again. "Seriously, it is. Her being angry at me wasn't her temper, it was her way of proving how much of a best friend you are to her. Honestly, I felt I deserved that punch."

Trapped in his hold, Crumbelina winced apologetically. "That doesn't give her any excuse for hurting you."

"It doesn't," Gloyd agreed. "But…but we all make mistakes. We're only video game characters after all. You taught me that, remember? And believe me, I know what happens when buried emotions get trapped for too long. You know that too."

Crumbelina had to stop and take in his words. Memories of what she had witnessed from Gloyd that night on her balcony came back to her. His sudden outburst fueled by the boiling rage and hurting that he had concealed for too long inside him. Gazing into his eyes, she could see that he was now looking desperate. But she didn't say anything.

"Please, Lina, don't be mad at Snowanna," Gloyd begged. "She's your best friend. She's the one who taught you how to play your violin. And after your accident, she was feeling as shocked over you as I was. She was just trying to look out for you because she loves you. And I think she's been through enough tonight. Maybe…tomorrow you should spend some time with her so she can feel better about all this. Just like I am now."

Still, Lina remained silent. She just looked down with narrowed eyes, her arms crossed tightly and her lip in a pout.

So Gloyd decided to try one last tactic, hoping that it would do the trick. He didn't want to have to resort to this and he wasn't at all sure if Lina would fall in the same way as he always did when faced with it, but Snowanna depended on it. It was life's greatest and most bothersome weapon ever invented that he knew would always be powerful enough to break him down anytime it was deployed.

Guilt.

"You know, if there's one thing you taught me on the night we met, it's that best friends will never abandon each other," he started carefully. "I'd hate to see how crushed Snowanna's gonna be if you do exactly that to her over this. You don't want that, do you?"

Crumbelina didn't move, but a queer look was beginning to dawn over her hardened expression now. She grasped the zipper lining of her jacket with her thumbs as her mind was slowly flooded with cherished memories of the many nights she had spent with her best friend; from recollections of their casual musical sessions with their favourite instruments where they would allow their imaginations to go wild to compose new songs and let their different tastes clash together in beautiful harmony…to the earliest days following their arrival to Litwak's arcade when Snownanna would patiently teach her how to play a violin for the first time.

"No," she mumbled at last.

"I've forgiven Snowanna," Gloyd stated firmly, the strength in his voice evident. "Can't you too?"

Lina's lip quivered, feeling a little ashamed of herself now. "I…I suppose so," she whispered. "All right then, yes. Yes, I forgive her."

She glanced up at Gloyd for a moment, then turned her face away. "I'm…sorry," she muttered in a very small voice. Now she really wished that she had her cap to hide herself.

This was the first time Gloyd had ever heard Crumbelina apologize for anything before, let alone to him. But he felt she was also apologizing to Snowanna. In response, he gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry about it. We're all good now."

Crumbelina looked back up at him, her cheeks tinting pink. "Where did she punch you?" she asked.

Gloyd tapped the spot in question, and almost instantly, Crumbelina's hand was cupping it, gently stroking his cheek as if carefully inspecting for any damage that Felix might have missed. This time, however, Gloyd did not flinch or even tense up at her touch. He knew that she was going to do this. And because his mind wasn't stunned, he was able to fully register the warmth of her hand and the gentleness that she placed upon him as she caressed his cheek and fixed him her worried face.

For the second time that day, a hand was making contact with his cheek. The difference was that this one was a hundred times gentler than its predecessor.

"But why didn't you ask Dad to fix your teeth?" she pressed.

"I told you. I felt I deserved it. It was like a reminder of what I did to you. I mean…now I think it's been long enough, so I'll ask him to fix it later." Gloyd said. He then smiled his crooked toothy grin at her, hoping to convince her that all was well, but ironically dashing these hopes as it revealed the gaps in his teeth once again. Crumbelina winced uncomfortably.

"You better. You can't be going around in public like this," she stated with sudden disgust all over her face. "You look as unpresentable as your Jack-o'-lanterns."

Sensing the change in mood, Gloyd smirked and held his hands up like a thief caught in a bank robbery. "So what? You gonna start fussing over me like Minty always does with Swizzle?" he teased. "She never leaves him alone if she finds even one chocolate stain on his shirt."

Crumbelina grimaced slightly as she tried to restrain a giggle. Whether he knew it or not, Gloyd was always able to make her smile. "It seems like I missed a lot while I was knocked out," she mused thoughtfully. "You really have been talking to people, haven't you? I heard from Vanellope that you had an in-depth chat with the others when you were waiting for me to wake up."

Gloyd's smile dropped. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah…about that…Lina, I'm really sorry. I had to tell everyone your secret. About your depression with the players…I didn't want to, but it was the only way they would stop pestering me about…"

"Shh."

He stopped when she curtly shushed him again, her finger finding its way to his lips as usual.

"It's okay, Pumpkin Pie. I know. Vanellope told me everything," she said. "And you know what? I'm very glad that you did that."

Gloyd blinked as she lowered her finger. "Really?"

"Yes," she whispered, now with a brave smile. "It was about time they knew my secret. It never should have been one in the first place. Now they can all help me through my troubles just like you did when I told you. So, thank you for doing what I should have done a long time ago."

Gloyd stared at her for a moment, but then collected himself. "Um, you're welcome."

It looked like Lina wanted to say something else, but he decided not to pry at her. But before he could look away, she spoke again.

"You mentioned that you were so worried about me. Did you really, really miss me while I was knocked out?"