Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews.
Disclaimer: I don't own FOP, sorry to disappoint you.
Chapter Fifteen- One Step Forward, Two Back
This time, Timmy made a conscious effort not to run into any of Tootie's defenses. He wasn't going to get throw out this time, but he had to be careful. Tootie was a little unhinged right now.
Around him, the world was a murky green, full of noxious gases. He could barely breathe for more than five seconds without choking. Personally, he couldn't understand why Tootie would dream something like this. There was no sky, only green. It was pretty nearly the opposite of a verdant, sentient field.
He treaded carefully, taking small, shallow gasps. From the right side, he heard pitiful cries, his name repeatedly. Tootie...then again, who else would it be? This was, after all, her world.
Suddenly, a trail appeared in front of him, composed entirely of magma. Apparently, her subconscious informed him she was still furious with him. If she couldn't physically force him out...she might kill him instead. The thought terrified him more than he could speak.
Pushing aside the ferns, growing beside an instantaneously growing forest of deciduous trees, Timmy walked, taking care not to stray towards the path. Already, his feet were boiling, filling his nose with their putrid steam of burned rubber. Still, he ventured onward; Tootie's cries grew more plaintive with every second. Tootie...
The ground gave way suddenly and he snatched a vine, dangling from the evergreen tree (apparently, Tootie did not know her forests and biomes as well she should) beside him. A huge crevice appeared as well as...Tootie. She smirked down, her face full of pain and longing. Part of her didn't want him to perish, but saw no other option. She wanted to end her misery, so he must begone to do so. There was no alternative.
"Tootie, pull me up!" Timmy cried despondantly, extending an arm. She paused, pondering. However, every second she hesitated, he slipped down further. He was going to soon perish within her mind...
"Why the hell did you come back? I told you I wanted to die...and you seem to agree with me. After all, if you'd cared a whit about me, you'd have visited at least once during the five years Vicky employed me as her slave and deigned my life.
"The only reason you could possibly be interested in me is as a rebound girl, and I told you, you can just fuck me and leave...I don't care..." Tootie whispered, tears forming. She knelt down, but did not extend her hand out to him. She seemed to be seriously considering letting him drop.
"Yes, you do care and you're not going to die- if you let me help you! If you let me die here, I can't help you! Damn it, Tootie, I need you to try as hard as I am!" Timmy cried, attempting to force himself up. Tootie watched with a detached expression. She was going to let him die...
"Why should I try? What is there for me? What incentive have I? Hell, I can't even get the Timmy I want, because you keep showing up instead of the one I created...the one that loves me. You don't love me, you never will. It's hopeless to even think that," Tootie murmured, leaning down. She wasn't going to let him die...but she didn't want him there. That much was evident.
"It's not hopeless! As long as there's hope, there's a chance!" Timmy snapped, pushing himself up. Tootie grabbed him by the arm and yanked him up. Their eyes met.
"Timmy...you have to leave. I love you, but if you stay here, I swear to God, you'll die in here. I can't help it, you have no idea how angry with you I am. I hate that you were so stupid as to sleep with Trixie and forget I existed. I hate that you were so stubborn, you wouldn't even listen to your fairy godmother-" Tootie started, feeling his mental heartbeat against hers. He lay atop her...she could barely think.
"What do you mean, 'listen to my fairy godmother'? You know about Wanda?!" Timmy shrieked, rising but his arms weakened- he collapsed back atop her. Truthfully, he couldn't think of a better position to be in...
"Yes. She came to me...and if it weren't for her, I'd..." I'd be dead. I wish she'd never said anything to me....Damn her to hell! Screw fairies and the Fairy World! Screw it all!
"You'd be dead..." Timmy finished dully. And if I can't convince you otherwise, Wanda's efforts will be for naught. At least Tootie's a little more civil to me this time. She's going to kick me out, though...
"Go, damn it! Let me dream in peace!" Tootie hissed, longing to pull herself out from under him as to show her independence. Too bad she didn't have any to speak of, not to mention this was what she'd always wanted, to lay beneath him...and for him to make love to her. If he just left her alone, she could have all that and more.
"I'm not leaving without you!" Timmy retorted, placing his hand on her face. Tootie's breath quickened, but she shoved him off again. Finally, at long last, she extracted herself from him and glared. Expulsion in ten, nine, eight...
"I'm dying, deal with it!" Tootie hissed, shoving him back out again. "I don't want to be saved, especially by you!"
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Timmy lands hard on his back again, glancing up at Cosmo and Wanda. Wanda's face is lined with worry as she wipes Tootie's forehead, heavy with sweat. Although she won't admit it to her godson, she's anxious for Tootie's health. She really won't accept any help.
"Guys? I don't know...she doesn't want me in there..." Timmy murmurs. And I'm sick of getting somewhere and then getting thrown out. I have a feeling that it'll only happen over and over again. And if that's true, screw it.
"I know she doesn't, sport. But..." Wanda has nothing to say to him that'll make him feel better. There's no lie to tell him, no magic solution. They are forbidden to do life saving magic, only when their godchildren have screwed up history royally or it's an animal's life. Nothing big.
"She's going to die, damn it! I can't stop her-" Timmy snaps, pacing. His fairies' eyes narrow and they glare at him. What gives? He's only telling the truth.
"So you're just going to give up? Say 'screw it, I'm not going to try because it's too hard'? Get over it!" Wanda snaps, anger rising to the surface. She's frustrated, he's frustrated, and allowing a human to visit dreams takes a lot of magic. She won't give up because she can't...even if she suffers in the process.
"Get back in there!" Cosmo and Wanda snap in unison, both pale due to the drain. They land on her bed and clutch each other. Return to the dream...
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Vicky pounds on the door to Tootie's hospital room, but there's no answer. Damn it, she has every right to speak to her sister...and to finish her off. She's going to get that brat for saving her life. No way in hell is she going to lose another slave.
Yes, that's right, another. Once upon a time, she used to have a brother, but he ran away. Her parents forgot about him, probably because she kept him locked up in the attic. One day, she left the door unlocked and bam, he was gone. Damn it all.
There's a weird barrier of some kind there and banging A.J. against it does absolutely nothing. Echoes of a past conversation strike her...Tootie's dying. Because of her...Tootie's dying. The news hits her hard, contrary to what she thought.
She sinks to the floor and holds her head in her hands. Even with everything she's done to her, not all of her desire her death. This is all her fault...
So what's she going to do about it? Sweep it under the rug, of course. As long as their parents weren't called, there was no trouble. Maybe she'd get Tootie a nice casket to compensate for ruining her life...
Ricky comes up behind her and, instead of hugging her, steals her wallet. She scowls but leans on him. He's good for the sexual things. She never understood love anyway.
Tootie's hopelessly in love with the twerp, she knows that. She honestly doesn't know what she sees in him, but never mind that. He'll never help her, and it'd take a goddamn miracle to make her recover. Hmph.
Loath as she is to admit it...she doesn't want Tootie to die. Sure, she hates her, but there's still something in her, something she never shows, her shred of humanity. She loves her as much as she hates her. And she'll get her a nice casket.
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Tootie, you have to let me in. If you don't...Breathing hard, Timmy leans over and kisses her lightly on the lips. Wanda smiles weakly- her godson isn't on the rebound, as much as Tootie thinks he is. He's finally fallen in love, not lust, but is it too late?