I'm back! I'll try to get this story done before April, as school has been canceled before then due to Coronavirus. It sucks, but now I have more time. At least the musical and my competition weren't canceled.

It was a few days later. M-O hadn't had any scares, but everyone was on edge for when it would happen next. He was the only one not freaked out about it.

What's the point? I'm dying anyway. A scare is nothing compared to that.

In truth, despite accepting it, M-O was more afraid than he let on about his fate. What was so scary that no one knew what would happen to him. He supposed he would just stop working, but that was too vague. What was it like to just not exist anymore? Only leaving a physical body behind? He could ask WALL-E, but he didn't want to upset the garbage-bot, and that was if he remembered anything while being gone.

Oh well. He'd have to wait to get his answers.

Luckily, the assurance that D-FIB and Benny would be okay helped quell his fears. Well, he wasn't sure about the former. She was taking it very hard. He knew, even behind her smiles and cheery attitude. It was expected, of course, but he felt helpless to do anything while he was drifting away. What could make her feel better?

M-O found himself looking through his personal calendar inside his screen. There, he found a date he knew very well.

It was his and D-FIB's twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

It had slipped his mind completely due to everything else going on. He hoped to live long enough to see that milestone. Perhaps it would make D-FIB happy for real.

Before he could dwell on it any longer, his low battery warning bleeped loudly. It had been happening a lot lately, because the cancer was eating up his energy. Very soon, it would devour all of it.

He tried not to think about that as he plugged himself in and went into sleep mode.

()

M-O woke up with a start, at the sound of a shriek. His eyes grew wide, looking for the source, until he saw D-FIB. She looked worked up, but was making an attempt to calm herself down.

"What's the matter?" he asked, worried.

"Sorry, I just saw you asleep and thought-" she cut herself off.

The cleaning droid sighed. "Oh."

"But now I see nothing's wrong! You're fine and can go back to sleep! See you later!"

She turned to leave. M-O checked his battery. It was halfway full. He supposed he could last a little longer before having to go back.

"D-FIB, wait," he held up his brush.

She obeyed and faced him.

"You don't have to hide how you're feeling from me. I know I said to try to be happy, and I appreciate your efforts, but you're hurt. I didn't expect you to be happy all the time. I mean, I'm dying. How can you be happy about that? D-FIB, just please let it all out. It'll help both of us."

The defibrillator-bot closed her blue rectangles. "It h-hurts, M-O. A lot. And if I'm hurting this much now, I don't know what it'll feel like when you're gone." Her voice cracked.

She was shaking now. "Sometimes, I wish this was a nightmare I can wake up from and find you well. Other times...I wish...I wish I was the one dying, so you can live."

"D-FIB!"

M-O's eyes were slanted down. If it were possible, tears would've been glistening in the corners.

"Don't...don't you ever think that. I can't bear the thought of you dying! Perhaps it was meant to be this way."

D-FIB gaped at him "What do you mean?"

"Remember all my talk about fate? We can't control the inevitable, but we can choose how we let it affect us. Maybe cancer is a little extreme for me, but...I'm trying to stay positive, despite how scary it actually is. I let myself fall apart when it becomes too much, but I always bounce right back."

M-O offered his roller, and D-FIB accepted it with her paddle. "See, D-FIB? There's no use in thinking of what might've been. Staying happy is good, but it's also good to let yourself take a break. It'll help you in the long run."

"Oh, M-O," D-FIB sighed lovingly, then pulled him into a kiss. It lasted until he suddenly started shaking.

"M-O?" M-O couldn't say anything as she helplessly watched him suffer. He then went limp, blacking out.

"M-O!" D-FIB panicked for a second, then scooped him up and rushed out.

Yeesh...M-O and D-FIB were having a moment, then cancer had to ruin it.

As I said, I now have a lot of extra time for this story. See you soon!

CocoDisney out!