Apart from the occasional suggestion from a different smurf, it was he, the oldest smurf in the village, and Nanny who seemed to have the funeral preparations under control, which came as a relief for most smurfs who could hardly take care of themselves at the moment, let alone that too. And on this front, at least, Nanny had finally relented and allowed Grandpa to work together with her on it. On something. He'd been feeling so utterly useless. He was desperate to give any kind of help, support or assistance in any way he could, even though he knew it would never make up for how he'd frozen in place back then, at the worst possible moment, when maybe he could have done something. Why hadn't he been braver? Why had his mind been too blank to come up with something? It was a complete and utter disgrace. He was the older smurf. He had some kind of responsibility, to – how could he let this happen? He was the more expendable smurf. This village hardly needed him. It would have made little difference. If he had just…

Nanny tried to tell him that it "wasn't his fault", but how could she say that? She wasn't there. It didn't matter if no one blamed him. It didn't make a single difference to him.

But Nanny could see clear as day how much Grandpa was struggling, that he could hardly expect to help others before he helped himself. Of course she'd been deeply impacted too, but she was easily holding up the best out of everyone. Even Grandpa could see that, even while he still tried to insist on alleviating any burdens she'd chosen to carry on her shoulders.

Now they more than welcomed offered assistance in the funeral planning from others – it was just that it was very sparse, and most were content to leave them to it. In spite of their open-arms policy, however, when Brainy approached them with a long sheet of paper containing a list in his hands, they were more than a little guarded, but could hardly refuse. They allowed the younger smurf to come into their midst, speaking of how planning and organising was his forte, and although they frequently had to reign him back in or curb some of his more outlandish thoughts, he actually proved to be surprisingly helpful for once. They both got the distinct impression that Brainy was glad to have a task at hand, as grim as this one could be in the grand scheme of things, in order to distract himself from the reality and gravity of the situation.

Apparently, Nanny was going to watch over Baby now. Well, it didn't make all that much difference to him. She gave him proper meals, and he got to stay in her house, which was quite alright. But he really wanted Papa Smurf to come back soon. He tried asking a whole bunch of smurfs about that, but no one could quite explain it properly, or in fact very well at all. "You wouldn't understand", they told him, they had been telling him, and he started hearing that phrase, over and over again, until it started playing over in his mind on its own.

You wouldn't understand.

You wouldn't understand.

You wouldn't understand.

"Can I help?" Baby asked. Grandpa, Nanny and Brainy were all busy discussing and working on something. The "funeral", it sounded like. But even if he didn't really know what a funeral was, that didn't mean he couldn't help them. That didn't mean he couldn't learn.

Only Brainy, the nearest of the three, seemed to have heard the small voice offering assistance, and he hardly spared Baby a glance.

"…No. Sorry, Baby, but you wouldn't understand any of this that we're planning and working on."

You wouldn't understand.

Baby left to go and speak to Poet from nearby when it became clear that Brainy didn't have more words to share with him, too engrossed in what he was doing.

"What's a funeral?" he asked once more, this time to the poet-crafting smurf. Maybe he would explain it, where the others hadn't.

"It's for us to all say goodbye… to Papa Smurf," Poet tried to explain.

"Goodbye?"

Poet nodded solemnly.

How could they say goodbye to Papa Smurf when he wasn't here?!

Was he coming back just to leave again?

And obviously, from the way everyone was behaving, Baby could tell that this "goodbye" was somehow different from a normal "goodbye". It was a special "goodbye".

The smurfs seemed to think Papa Smurf would not EVER be coming back, which was something Baby truly could not fathom. Is that what Papa Smurf had told them before his departure? That he would not be returning? But he had never told Baby anything like that. Baby thought that Papa liked living in the village. So why would he leave? The other smurfs must be mistaken. Baby could not accept that he would never return, that was just too... Well. The thought made him too sad. So yes, there had to be some kind of mistake.

"…Why do we have to say goodbye?"

"To help us move on."

"Move… on?" Baby blinked up at Poet. He had not exactly heard such phrasing before.

Poet turned away. "…You wouldn't understand."

But he wanted to understand.

He was going to understand, one way or another. Baby had an idea. A rather ambitious idea. He wasn't sure whether it would work. But he was going to try.

There was a knocking at Brainy Smurf's door. After a delay, the door creaked open. If Brainy was surprised to find that it was Baby Smurf looking up at him on the doorstep, he didn't show it. It didn't seem to faze him.

"What is it," he said flatly. From the sound of his voice, it almost seemed like he'd just been crying.

"Teach me to read," said Baby, cutting straight to the point. "…Please!" he added on quickly. Papa Smurf had always taught him to mind his manners.

Brainy, at first, did not seem to register what Baby was saying to him, or rather, asking of him, so Baby tried again.

"Teach me! Teach me reading."

"…Teach you? Teach you to read?"

"Yes!"

Brainy looked irritable. "You can hardly talk, and you expect me to teach you how to read?!"

"I can learn!" Baby knew for a fact that Brainy would normally be jumping for joy at this opportunity. He would probably lead him inside to get him started right away, lack of speech or not. But Brainy, just like everyone else, had been different lately.

"It's just not realistic. You're too young, you wouldn't understand-"

"Please!"

Brainy shook his head, seeming distracted. "I'm sorry. But I'm… I'm busy. With the preparations."

For the "funeral", right?

And then Brainy issued a quick goodbye, and shut the door once more.

It was just Baby's luck that he'd caught Brainy at a bad time. He could vaguely remember Brainy trying to teach him to read before, but back then Baby hadn't been very interested. It had been a bit boring and hard to understand, so he didn't really take anything in. Papa had told him that there was no rush, and that he'd be able to read just fine when he was older. Why couldn't that be now?

And he knew that Brainy could do it. He'd taught Sassette to read, after all. If anysmurf could teach him to read, it was him.

He came back the next day, asked for Brainy's help once more.

"Teach me! Teach me!" he pleaded. Brainy only sent him away again. When Baby lingered outside Brainy's door for a little while longer, he thought he could hear crying.

He wouldn't be deterred. Baby came right back the next day after that. He would show Brainy how prepared to learn he really was. And finally, Brainy relented.

"Well… If you really are this eager… Maybe I can try to teach you. But wait until after the funeral. It's happening tomorrow."

"Okay!" Victory. Baby Smurf was going to learn how to read. That was step 1.