Hey. This will be the last update for a while. Little Shop of Horrors and my final color guard competition is next week, in addition to school. They require my full attention. I'll get back to this as soon as I can.

M-O sat silently in front of the window of his home. He had been dismissed from work due to his cancer. He knew things were only going to get worse from here on out, but that didn't mean he just wanted to sit around until the end of his time.

He saw D-FIB and Benny heading home. He greeted them.

"So, we asked, and we're taking a break from our jobs for now until...until you-know-what. We want to be around full-time," D-FIB explained.

"I didn't ask you two to do that," M-O responded.

"Well, we wanted to. I don't want you to be alone next time you have a scare," Benny said.

Before the microbe obliterator could reply, there was a commotion at the door. D-FIB went to check it out, and found the gang of rejects, along with WALL-E, EVE, and Kitty.

EVE gave an apologetic grin. "Sorry, D-FIB. Everyone's been constantly worrying how you all are doing. I couldn't stop them."

D-FIB sighed. "Come on in, but don't overwhelm M-O. He's got enough going on."

Everyone entered. M-O turned around, and rolled up to his friends. "Hey, everybody."

WALL-E came up and desperately hugged his friend, shaking. M-O stiffened, before returning it the best he could without arms.

"M-O…" the trash-bot whimpered.

M-O cocked his head, before understanding the meaning. "WALL-E. You'll be okay. Fine, maybe you won't be at first, but you will. I know it."

WALL-E reluctantly pulled away, his optics drooping. M-O frowned, but then had an idea.

"Hey, remember when we first met?"

WALL-E seemed to perk up at that. "Directive."

"That's right. I was doing my directive until you came around. You helped me literally step out of my boundary. I'm still thankful for that."

WALL-E's eyes brightened, cheering up. He then lifted up one of his treads and pointed at M-O.

"Yeah, you also put your tread in my face," M-O said sheepishly. But he was also smiling.

EVE glided up. "See, WALL-E? Look how happy remembering made you."

M-O added, "These memories may hurt when I'm gone, but they're a piece of me. It's okay to talk about them."

WALL-E turned to his friend, with a look of understanding. He went in for a hug. M-O gladly reciprocated it.

All morning, the robots talked about their years together, sharing laughs and tears and warm feelings. The sun was in the middle of the sky when they left.

"It was nice reminiscing," M-O mused.

D-FIB half-smiled. "Yeah. It was."

Benny stated, "Kitty invited me over, so I guess I better get going. See you later!"

M-O held up his roller. "Wait! You're okay with leaving?"

"Mom will be with you in case it happens," Benny said simply before continuing.

There was a few seconds of silence. "I think I'll go to sleep. I'm feeling rather drained." M-O went to his charging station and cubed himself up, his yellow eyes disappearing from his screen.

D-FIB sighed. "You have no idea how much I'm hurting right now."

WALL-E gets some much-needed comfort from his best friend.

So D-FIB is trying to be happy for M-O's sake, but it's a mask for how much she's really hurting. Perhaps an upcoming special date can make her open up and be happy for real. (Hint: If you've been paying attention to the timeline in the previous stories, perhaps you can guess what the date is.)

CocoDisney out!