Author's note: Ok my lovelies! Another slightly longer chapter for your enjoyment. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your feelings, I have finished writing and we only have 3 chapters left after this one, maybe 4 if I decide to write an epilogue. But this has been a journey! Enjoy this chapter and I'll see you in the next one :)

As much as Kowalski wanted to get back to work and think the first conversation he was going to have with Blowhole would be natural, he couldn't help worry that he was going to say something wrong, hurtful or just plain stupid.

The precious minutes ticked by and Kowalski found himself just sitting on Blowhole's desk staring into nothing, sucking on his tongue and jumping at every little noise the air conditioning made.

"What am I going to say to him?" He mumbled under his breath as he let his face fall into his flippers.

"What do you mean?"

He suddenly jumped up and turned to the door. Doris was standing there all cheerful again. Kowalski groaned loudly and threw his head back.

"I said stop!"

Doris giggled as she rode forward and sat down before staring caringly at Kowalski.

"But what did you mean?"

"When his mind is fixed. What am I going to say to him?"

"What do you mean?"

Kowalski sighed and shook his head, letting it fall back into his flippers. He didn't know what he meant. He was just overthinking like usual.

"I don't even know. My mind has been drawing blank more often than not."

Doris lifted his head up and smiled tenderly.

"Kowalski you're just anxious. I don't know what I'm going to say either. I'll probably break down in tears and he'll be all confused and it'll scare him and you'll be in a corner babbling nonsense."

"Why will I be babbling nonsense?"

"Because that's what you do when you get flustered. Your brain mixes all the smart words with the not smart words."

"Thanks."

Doris chuckled again as Kowalski crossed his flippers and pouted. Doris was probably right about everything. Kowalski would get flustered and not know what to say, he would try to think of what to say and take too long, then he would awkwardly try to say something to fill the silence and end up just babbling and forgetting what he was meant to be thinking about, which was what he was meant to say. His brain would short circuit in other words.

"But my brother's smart, he'll be able to understand."

"I just don't know if I'll be able to answer all his questions. Understand how he feels..."

"You want to?"

"Of course!"

Of course Kowalski wanted to understand. He wanted to talk to Blowhole for hours and understand more. There was something about him that just drew him in closer.

"Tell him how hard you worked and how much you wanted to fix him," Doris smiled.

"I don't even know if I can do that."

"Just don't do what Jay did. At least, not with me around," she chuckled.

Kowalski rolled his eyes and shook his head annoyed. As stressed as he was, he didn't need to be talking about things like this. He needed to keep his mind clear, focused, so he could keep working and be sufficient.

"Doris, please," he moaned.

But the dynamic changed all in an instant. Doris lost her cheerful expression and a look of irritation replaced it. Kowalski cocked a brow at what changed and why Doris suddenly looked like she wanted to pound him into the ground, so he stayed silent and waited for Doris to stop shaking her head.

"No, no please. I'm right. I deserve the truth, right? I deserve closure, a reason. Just like everytime I left you, I gave you a reason. So tell me, you left me for Francis, didn't you?"

Kowalski said nothing. He was somewhat shocked and confused that Doris would be bringing this up. Was she mad because he liked Blowhole or mad because of the way he left her? The way he ended it? It could have been all of it. Either way, Kowalski could bearly admit it to himself, so there was no way he was going to outright confess everything before Doris.

"Kowalski," she said, getting impatient for the answer.

Kowalski shook his head, looking down and shut his eyes. He didn't want to be talking about this. He didn't want to be thinking about it either. He needed to keep his mind clear! What good was having this conversation anyway? It served no purpose and did nothing to advance developments. It was pointless. But it felt good to lift a weight of your chest.

"Ok, fine! Yes! I did."

Kowalski reopened his eyes to find Doris looking down, not with a look of anger like he had expected. She looked the same loving character she had always been.

"What are you so hesitant about? You weren't one to hesitate with me. Is it because he's a guy? My brother?" She pressed on.

"I don't really want to have this conversation."

"Why can't you go for it? You know he's fine with guys."

Why was she pushing it? Did she want to get Kowalski with someone else so there would be no chance of him trying to crawl back to her, because it inconvenienced her that much? Should he have been the one to be mad right now?

"Because! I'm a hopeless romantic! All I've ever done in a relationship is fail! 17 and a half times! He's got such a big personality, how can I keep up with that? I just-I don't know..."

Doris chuckled at Kowalski's dismay.

"Kowalski, you can't compare a relationship to him in reference to us. You have to admit, we may be siblings, but we're nothing alike. And I've seen the way he acts around you, how he always wants to upstage you, make you think the very best of him. He feels the same way. You've got nothing to lose, Kowalski."

There was silence for a moment. A long moment. Kowalski was fed up of thinking and overthinking, he just wanted to lay down, fall asleep and not wake up. But maybe instead of letting himself think, he should have let himself feel. He knew he liked Blowhole, knew how much he looked up to him now. So now it was time he let himself feel it in his heart and mind. Doris was right, like usual, the women are always right.

Kowalski sighed and shook his head, he shook at himself and how stupid he was about affairs of love. If Skipper could see him now, he would want to put himself in the ground to avoid cringing at Kowalski.

As he looked up he saw Doris smiling. It was a different kind of smile. A slight excited smirk.

"You're taking pleasure from this aren't you?" Kowalski asked.

Doris crossed her flippers and leaned back.

"I know you well enough to be able to tell exactly what you're thinking and feeling. Didn't I tell you I saw this coming?"

Kowalski rolled his eyes and glanced at the clock. Time was nearly up for Francis' regeneration and he would be waking up soon. Although his confession was out in the open, he still felt the sinking feeling in his gut he got from going to the dentist. It was an irony since penguins didn't have teeth and he didn't need to worry, much like his current situation, he had nothing to worry about.

Doris looked to clock as well, after following his gaze and sighed, happily.

"Soon. Come on, let's go down and greet him from his dreams."

Watching Doris get back onto her segway made the situation feel so much more real. It had been a long time Blowhole was away and he was finally coming back. Kowalski missed him and wanted so much to see him again that he would have given anything to have had an extra hour to prepare his heart.

His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he made the journey down the lair, it was far too short of a journey to give him a chance to calm down and once he saw the still, sleeping beast he wanted to run. Francis was sleeping, like he normally would. He was dreaming things he usually would. His mind was back, he was Blowhole once again and not the monster he had turned himself into. He was right there.

The minutes ticked by in silence where Kowalski stared at Francis from his seat on the floor. The steady rhythm of the serpent's breaths kept Kowalski's mind focused and thinking straight. At least until his claws started to twitch and his head began to move. He was waking up.

Kowalski's heart nearly stopped as Francis opened his eye. It was slow and Kowalski could do nothing but wait for Francis to come to and realise where he was.

Doris gasped upon seeing her waking brother but Kowalski quickly hushed her. Bombarding him would be the worst thing they could do. Francis needed to come to in his own time.

Francis opened his eye fully and began to look around, he lifted his heavy head and his void eye focused on the bird he could see in front of him.

"Kow-Kowalski," he said, his voice hoarse and low.

Kowalski stood quickly, walking further into his narrowed vision.

"Yes. I'm here."

There was confused silence from Francis, where he closed his eye trying to think, trying to remember, before he opened his eye again and looked down. He could see his body, see what he had become and he didn't like it. He hung his head and closed his eye again.

Kowalski had no idea what was going through Francis' mind. If he was recalling memories of his time as a monster or from the moment he had fallen asleep the night before he turned.

"How are you feeling?" Kowalski cautiously asked.

"I'm a monster... we failed," Francis said, opening his eye again.

Kowalski tried not to think. He knew thinking was useless. So he let himself feel and he smiled.

"No, Francis. We didn't fail at all."

"We did! Look at me, Kowalski! I was partly dolphin yesterday, but look at me now! I give it until this afternoon before I lose my mind. I'll become a true monster. I'll want to kill you."

Kowalski knew it was out of place, but he chuckled. Happy that he had brought his friend back, he was just the same as he was before.

"I thought this would happen."

"What would happen?" Francis cocked a brow.

"You already turned, already lost your mind. I just brought you back."

There was silence before Francis looked himself over again quickly, before he turned back to Kowalski.

"...What? I don't-I don't understand."

"There is no double meaning. We're on the other side."

Kowalski's voice grew hoarse. His throat was closing up in that recognizable sensation before you start to cry.

"I-I'm... cured?"

"Yes. 100% the virus is gone. You will never deteriorate and in a week or more I'll have you back to your normal dolphin self."

Kowalski tried not to cry. He really did, but behind him he could already hear gentle gasps from Doris as she let herself be engulfed in emotion.

He gave Francis a moment before he stepped forward and placed a warm flipper on Francis' clawed hand.

"Francis, how do you feel? What do you remember?"

He thought for a moment, looking down at Kowalski for a focal point as he pondered the question.

"I remember... remember..."

"Do you remember me?" Doris blurted out.

Francis raised his head. He hadn't even seen she was there, grey like the rest of the walls, she silently watched as her brother came back from the brink.

"Doris. Sweetheart, of course I remember you."

The pair of siblings smiled and Doris rode over as Francis stood. Doris embraced him in her flippers. His huge head weighing her down, but she couldn't have cared. She had her brother back.

Francis looked like he shed a tear, even though he was still tremendously confused and thought he was only dolphin yesterday.

"But I'm still a..."

"We're working on it. Getting you back mentally was our main priority."

Francis searched the floor for Kowalski again before he locked on and crumbled to the floor again, his legs too weak to keep himself up for the moment.

"How did you do it?"

"Your mind wasn't erased like you had wanted. You still recognized us, even when fully consumed by the virus. We worked off that and found a way to pull yourself forward. It seems the neuron blockers weren't the most irreversible part of your plan."

Francis chuckled slightly, it was the kind of chuckle where he pitied himself and bearly a sound came from his mouth.

"I guess I really do feel stupid. Flaws from the very start."

"Hey, no one gets a deadly virus right the first time they make it. The first is always a throw away," Kowalski chuckled back.

Francis smirked and Kowalski couldn't have been happier. His fix worked and he finally had Francis back. There was no more deterioration, no more pressure for time and it was only up from here. He couldn't wait for the day he'd get to look into his ocean blue eye again.

"Now, there's no pressure on you at all. Whatever you want to do next is your decision. We can let you rest here, or go to your room. Though, it's still in a mess from when you turned... and we'd have to find a place to chain you up... It's up to you."

"I'd like to stay here as long as my sister stays with me."

Doris suddenly came forward and chuckled.

"Of course. I'm never leaving again! Look what happened when you didn't have your big sister to guide you!"

They all laughed and shared the tender moment. Kowalski didn't want to leave, he wanted to stay and talk to Francis forever. Tell him everything that had happened and everything he was doing to make everything better. But he supposed Francis would have rather had his sister. They were inseparable and Kowalski admired them for that. So he supposed he should let them settle and let Francis rest. Doris would do a good job at explaining everything to him and while he gave the pair some time alone he could let his heart calm down and think rationally about what to do next.

There was still a lot of work left to do and Kowalski knew he had new challenges to face as well. He needed to get Francis back to his rightful state before he grew depressed and he needed to sort things out with his penguin brothers and he needed to think of what to do with his life and he needed to not think because all that did was flabbergast him. The only thing he needed do right now was to feel happy, feel proud and feel how much Francis would want to thank him. The journey had been a long one but there was still a ways to go.