Chapter 6: Redeemed

A long gaming session was the next thing that happened. For once, instead of competing, we were working together in a fighting game that seemed a bit too familiar to a certain 'smashing success' back home. It was quite fun.

After an indeterminate amount of time, however...

"Wha-? You guys have video games, too? I'm never gonna leave!"

I cringed. Not because of what Moustache Girl said, but because she was standing behind me and just so happened to yell in my ear.

"Do you have an indoors voice?" I asked.

"I have my voice. Love it or hate it, that's what I got!" She said proudly.

"Fair enough," I muttered, "How'd your day go?"

"Pretty good, actually. I pranked some Mafia by knocking them off of ledges, and nobody yelled at me or anything. It was pretty awesome," She said.

"Seems like they might be starting to come around," I guessed.

"Didja find out what your boring friends want yet?" She asked.

"We did, actually," I said, "More or less. I'll-"

The kid shot me a glare.

"-We'll go look for what they want, all you'll have to do is hand it over and apologize," I said, "And I mean a REAL apology. Not some lame, meaningless one."

She scratched her head, looking perplexed.

"I- uh... got it," She said uncertainly.

"Is something wrong?" The kid asked.

She was silent, still scratching her head and looking confused.

"I... uh... I don't think I've ever really apologized for something before," She confessed, "At least not for as long as I can remember."

"Don't sweat it," I reassured her, "As long as the intent's there, you'll do just fine."

"Are you sure about that?... Will they even listen?" She asked.

"They'll listen to us, so we can make them listen to you," I explained, "Besides, they've all done their own fair share of bad things. It'd be hypocritical for them to refuse to listen because of one action."

"Because bad actions don't make bad people-great, now I feel even worse about what I did," She grumbled.

I flashed a double thumbs up with a smirk.

"You just said it: bad actions don't make bad people," I said.

"Yeah... you're right," She agreed, "I'm still nervous, though."

"Can't blame you for that," I muttered, "Just don't let it get to you."

She nodded.

"Anyway, make room! I want in on the fun!" She demanded.

I chuckled and moved over so she could sit down. Good thing the kid had a bunch of spare controllers.

"What should we do now?" I asked.

"2v1!" The kid shouted, "You versus us!"

"Yes!" Moustache Girl beamed, "Let's go!"

"What?" I said, "That's hardly fair!"

"Too bad, you're the adult and you're the only boy here!" She taunted.

I shook my head, then smirked.

"Well, that'll just make it all the more embarrassing for you two when you lose!" I retorted.

"It's on!" They both shouted.

We started.

How did it go, you ask?

Well, I'll put it this way.

It went about as well as you'd expect a normal 2v1 to go...

... and by that I mean I got absolutely smacked. Didn't win a single game, although I did get close once.

"Well, that was almost too easy!" Moustache Girl taunted afterward, to which the kid nodded.

"It was two on one, what did you expect?" I replied.

"Well, so much for 'embarrassing us when you still won', huh?" The kid laughed.

"The way I see it, you two had to team up to take me down, so technically I still won," I said.

"That's not how it works, buddy," Moustache Girl shot back.

"Too bad, that's how it works for me," I retorted with a smirk.

"Whatever, we still won," She said.

Now we sat in front of the blank television, nobody wondering what to do.

But then a thought came to my mind...

"Wait, how do you even get in here without the alarm going off anyway?" I asked.

"Oh, I disabled it awhile ago," The kid explained.

I frowned.

"I would've liked to have known that..." I muttered.

She shrugged.

"Sorry!"

I waved relaxedly in a 'no worries' gesture in response.

"What now?"

"I'm gonna go jump into your pillow mountain, if that's okay with you," Moustache Girl said to the kid, who grinned.

"I'll come too!" She said happily.

... And off they ran, leaving me in the dust, as per usual.

So, I shut off the TV and just sat there, thinking.

Now that there were two kids living on this ship, even if temporarily, it'd probably be confusing if I kept referring to Hat Kid as just 'kid', like I'd always been doing.

Like, yeah, I could just call her Hat Kid, like I just did, but it just seemed weird to me.

Maybe asking for her name would be a good idea...?

But she was hesitant about revealing stuff about herself...

... I'd figure something out. Perhaps I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.

I heard the hatch opening, and turned to see Cooking Cat enter.

I smiled.

"Hello," I greeted, "You came here at a great time."

"Hello to you too, dear. And why's that?" She asked.

"Give me a minute," I said, then stood up and walked into the hallway into the kid's room and peeked my head through the door.

The two were having a pillow fight and making an absolute mess.

"Hey," I said, loud enough that they could hear over their own ruckus, "If you two aren't busy being space monkeys, someone's here."

The kid grinned, and Moustache Girl went pale.

"Someone's... here?" Moustache Girl questioned, "Should I hide or something?"

"Oh, no, no, she's very very nice," I explained, "I'm sure she'll be the one who'll forgive you the easiest."

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Positive," I stated.

"... Okay then," She said.

The kid grabbed her by the arm, grinning from ear to ear, and the three of us returned to the main hub.

Cooking Cat locked eyes on Moustache Girl immediately. She didn't look angry or anything, but rather... curious.

"Oh, well this is a bit of a surprise," She said with interest, "Last time I saw you was when the world was on fire!"

"Yeah. She wants to apologize for that," I said, "It wasn't even truly her fault for what happened anyway. Time Pieces corrupt people. Make them do nasty things. And what happened was that but to the extreme. Right, Moustache?"

"Uh... yeah," Moustache Girl said nervously, scratching her head, "I really just wanted to help, I swear! I have no idea how I managed to get that crazy! I didn't mean it!"

"So what do you say?" The kid asked, nudging her slightly.

Moustache Girl looked down and sighed.

"...I'm sorry," She said, voice dripping with regret, "I was just so mad... and then the Time Piece took control of that... I just want to make up for what I did, but I know I really can't."

Cooking Cat listened intently, and she walked over to Moustache Girl and knelt down in front of her, putting a paw on her shoulder.

"It's alright, dear," She cooed, "Everyone makes mistakes, and you're just a little girl. I've done my own fair share of silly things when I was your age."

Moustache Girl looked up.

"You really mean it?" She asked.

"Of course, dear," Cooking Cat replied warmly, "It's probably been tough for you, hasn't it?"

"You have no idea..." Moustache Girl muttered.

"I may just have an idea," Cooking Cat replied, "Just know that, if you ever need a place to stay, you can come find me. I know what happened to your family, and that you haven't had anywhere to stay for so long now... it's the least I could do."

"Thanks... I appreciate it," Moustache Girl said, "But... these two already offered me a place to stay, and..."

"Don't be silly," The kid said, "She's amazing, she'll take real good care of you! And she's the best chef ever! Don't pass this up!"

"I agree, this is an amazing opportunity," I said, "We offered to let you stay here until you could find a better place to stay. And this is exactly that. Don't miss your window of opportunity."

"Okay... but what about the others?" Moustache Girl asked.

"Don't worry about them, dear. I'm well known all across this planet, so if they see you with me, maybe they'll see things more clearly," Cooking Cat reassured her, "And if they don't, well, I'll give them an earful. Okay?"

"... Okay," Moustache Girl agreed.

"Come visit anytime, okay?" The kid said.

"Oh, I will," Moustache Girl replied.

"Well, want to go check out your new home?" Cooking Cat asked.

To which Moustache Girl responded with a resounding "Yeah!" and by running off to the kitchen.

Cooking Cat laughed and followed after, and soon they were both gone.

"Well," I said, "I guess that means our job is done... a lot faster than I expected."

"I hope we see her again," The kid muttered.

"I'm sure we will. She still has a long way to go, she may still need our help down the line to deal with some people," I reasoned, "But for now, let's just let her be happy."

She nodded, and then yawned.

Which reminded me, it was probably getting late. We'd been gaming for hours... we hadn't even had anything to eat. But it was too late to eat now.

"You ready for bed?" I asked, to which she nodded again.

I then picked her up gently.

"Then let's get you tucked in," I said.

I carried her over to her bedroom, set her down gently in her bed, and tucked her in.

"Markus?" She said, then giggled, "Calling you by name is weird."

"No kidding," I replied, "We're gonna have to get used to it, though. But what did you need?"

"I'm just wondering what we're going to do tomorrow," She muttered.

"We'll see what the day brings us. If nothing eventful happens, we can always go down and begin some work with Snatcher," I said, "Seems to be getting on his nerves, after all."

"Oh," She said, seemingly lost in thought.

"What's on your mind?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"...It's nothing," She lied.

"I can see right through that, y'know," I said, "If there's something you wanna tell me, I'll listen."

She sighed.

"It's... well..." She said, "My birthday is tomorrow."

My eyes widened.

"Your birthday is tomorrow?" I questioned.

She nodded.

I shook my head.

"Dang it, kid, if I knew I would've got you something," I grumbled.

She seemed confused.

"Something... for my birthday?" She asked confusedly.

"Yes, a birthday gift," I explained, "Please don't tell me you've never had a birthday gift before."

She nodded slowly, causing me to shake my head.

What kind of horrible caretakers did she have?!

"Have you ever even celebrated your birthday before?" I asked.

She shook her head, and I sighed.

"I just thought it'd be fun to ask, that's all," She replied.

When we returned to her homeworld, I knew I'd have to have a real stern talk with whoever her guardian or guardians were.

"Well, in that case," I said, "Looks like we have our plans for the day: doing our best to make it your best day ever."

She smiled.

"I can't believe you'd actually do that for me..." She said, "I can't wait!"

"Get some rest, kiddo," I told her, "You'll need it for your big day."

"Okay. Good night."

"Good night."

I got up, shut off the lights, and walked out, then meandered my way to the attic and hopped into bed.

Her birthday... why did I never think that that would be a thing that would happen? If I thought about it, I could've asked her in advance and done something.

I shook my head.

Oh well. We'd make do with what we had.

A/N: Well, as you can see, plans changed. I found this to be a happier ending to the Moustache Girl arc.

But don't worry, this isn't the last we'll see of her yet. Our favourite protagonists will get caught up in some of her adventures down the road.

Now, I think you all know what's happening next chapter, though. Look forward to a fluff moment.

Now for a review from Xenuro:

Now you've got me confused. I imagine you're referring to the little collab with the other three authors? The shared multiverse thingimajig? Cause I'm still not entirely sure what's happening with that. I could ask them, though, but it doesn't seem like we're getting close to the inevitable, not right now.

But on another note, I like how you used the word 'zenith'. Very fancy, very riddle-esque. Thanks for the review.

Anyway, see y'all next chapter.