Disclaimer: My author doesn't own DDLC. For real. I'm running out of stuff to say in these disclaimers, geez... oh and you all already know who it is, it's Monika.

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Just Monika - Regular text

"Forever Sayori" - Spoken words/Dialogue

'Knife Wife Yuri' - Thoughts

{Buff Natsuki} - Text or audio displayed on-screen or by speaker, be it from a computer/smartphone/TV

"Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them."

-Oscar Wilde

[Chapter 18 - Defrosted]

Cracking his knuckles while feeling that familiar rush of battle-induced adrenaline, he takes a look around him with eyes that were currently glowing with a bright and golden hue. After making sure that there were no more incoming attackers aside from the assassin he had just subdued, Mizuki deactivated his powers and his eyes returned to their normal pink color.

"Man, it's good to be fucking back." he excitedly remarked. Being helplessly trapped inside a jewel necklace for so long had obviously taken a toll on his patience.

It was then that the man noticed Yuri was there as well.

"So you're here too, knife nympho? Shouldn't you have been able to easily defeat this shmuck? I mean, you totally crushed me with ease inside of the game."

Taken aback by the man's statement, Yuri then remembered Blank and the others telling her about Elyssa controlling her body during the fight with this man.

Blank in particular had hyped up the Yuri-Elyssa fusion, officially dubbing that state as the "Ascended Yuri". It still surprised her that Mizuki, as powerful as he was back then, had been essentially fodderized by the Libitina with the greatest of ease.

"I w-wasn't really acting like myself at the t-time, it's just that I was pos-s-sessed by someone powerful."

Scratching his chin, the man shrugged. "Heh, figures. I'd agree that you weren't quite acting like yourself during that fight of ours. The knife nympho I know from the game's script usually acted a lot more shy." He then goes back to addressing his daughter.

"So, what convinced you to finally let me out of that cramped up space inside the jewel, brat?"

Natsuki averted her face, trying to desperately hide her tears from the father that had become so estranged from her. From the father that had mercilessly starved her, hit her multiple times, and insulted her with crass language on multiple occasions.

Why? Because they weren't tears brought by fear or being scared. She wanted to hide them from that man, because she was actually crying tears of joy. Natsuki didn't really get why she would even be happy to see this man again, she should've been hating and detesting him with all of her heart. But she couldn't completely do so.

Mizuki was still her father, after all this time. And she still loved him, even after all of the pain that he had inflicted on her - both physically and mentally.

Amidst all of this however, Yuri once again spoke up. Her tone taking a hostile edge in it, and she was barely restraining herself from wildly lashing out at the man in front of her for everything he had done to her best friend.

"I still haven't forgiven you for what you've done to Natsuki in the past, Mizuki. She really deserved better, and went through hell because of you and the game. How are you even here right now? Izuna's copy of the game had essentially died off, and the world inside it is no more. And Blank had also told us that he clearly saw you getting stabbed through the chest."

In a manner which shocked both girls however, Mizuki hung his head low. His eyes were shadowed by his long bangs. His voice was a dry monotone, almost as if he was immensely sad.

"...believe me, I know that I shouldn't be forgiven, just yet. And as for how and why I'm here, that's quite a long story. I'll tell you about it in a safer place. There might be another assassin here."

Natsuki, finally regaining her voice bit by bit, spoke up for the first time in a long while.

"You're really here with me... it's not just a dream..."

Yuri stepped back a bit, allowing the father and daughter to properly have a conversation. She instead busied herself by taking care and watch over Yumi's still-unconscious body. She also tightened the rope on the captured assassin.

"Indeed, I'm here again. But didn't the hybrid already inform you about that, before you went through that portal thing to escape with your little group? When the game started erasing myself, she transfered my very essence into that item."

Looking at the ground, Natsuki nodded.

"Then this makes no sense... look, brat. While I'm fucking thrilled to be here on the outside, we both know that I've been the nothing short of the devil incarnate to you. I'm pretty damn sure that you hate me, it's clear. And I'm not too thrilled to see you as well. So, why? You could've left me to rot inside of that ruby's dimensional prison forever and went on your merry way. If it's about that assassin, the avatar would've come to help eventually if you called him."

In response to his honest inquiry, Natsuki merely walked forward. She kept coming closer like she wasn't hearing anything.

"Brat, I asked a question. And why the hell do you look like you're actually happy to see me again?"

Natsuki was now merely inches apart from her father. His height caused him to tower over her by a considerable margin. Combined with his tattered trench coat, Mizuki looked very intimidating. None of that had deterred the girl, however.

"Answer me when I'm talking to you, Natsuki!"

While there was still no vocal response, the girl's hands were both extended forward now. She leaned in and embraced Mizuki very tightly.

The man squirmed, trying to worm his way out of the affectionate gesture, voicing out his protests.

"Stop it, you little runt! You should be hating me! Don't tell me that your heart is so soft, that you're willing to just forgive your worst enemy like that!" finally managing to loosen up his daughter's hold on him, Mizuki roughly pushed her away with both his hands. His thrust had enough force behind it that Natsuki actually toppled over, and landed on the ground, butt first.

The entire sequence was seen by Yuri who remained nearby, but not directly involved. She had mixed feelings on the entire thing.

The purple-haired Doki was struggling to control herself from intervening, but she immediately read the atmosphere and had an idea on what Natsuki wanted to do. And so, as much as she wanted to help her friend, she knew that this was something that her fellow Doki had to do.

"There, that should teach you! You probably already know this, but I don't care about you! I only saved you from that assassin because I wanted a good fight!"

Natsuki stood up, her bangs shadowing her eyes, making her expression an unreadable one.

Once again, Mizuki was on the receiving end of a tight embrace from his one and only daughter.

"Stop it! You should cease this right now before I hit you! That blasted avatar was right you know? I'm a dangerous man! Fear me and stop coming near!" he growled, once again attempting to break free.

But this time, Natsuki wouldn't budge. She hugged him with all of her might, silently crying her heart out while doing so.

Was it Stockholm Syndrome? Did she have some deeply-rooted daddy issues? Maybe she was masochistic? Maybe it was actually some twisted combination of all three, or maybe it was nothing of the sort.

One thing was now clear though to her at least. Natsuki still really loved her papa, despite everything that had happened between them in the past.

And Mizuki had no choice but to let the feelings he had buried so long ago, to resurface. Gradually, his protests grew weaker, and he stopped resisting the hug. The father's thick walls were finally broken down by his stubborn daughter's unyielding warmth.

"Natsuki, you should stop that... I..."

Her hold on Mizuki tightened even more.

"I've... never been..."

Everything around them seemed to stand still in silence. Like time itself had been frozen during that very moment.

"A good father to you..."

Looking up into his eyes, Natsuki said only five words. Her cheeks had now been stained with an ongoing stream of tears from each eye. Her eyes were bloodshot. Even her breathing was labored. She was tired in both the physical and mental sense.

But her heart had never been more sure, as it was right now. And with her mind resolute, she had uttered five words that completely thawed Mizuki's frozen heart, melting off the emotional ice that formed on it over the years.

"I still love you, papa."

The moment that his ears had registered what his daughter had just said, Mizuki cried. He felt like he was being stabbed through the chest, and his mental psyche was in total disarray.

His firm stature collapsed, and he went from standing tall, to kneeling in front of his daughter while still caught in her warm and loving embrace.

"WHY?! HOW COULD YOU STILL LOVE ME AFTER EVERYTHING I'VE DONE TO YOU?!"

Yuri shared the same sentiment in her mind. How could her best friend forgive her father, just like that? If it was her in Natsuki's shoes, she would've disowned such a horrible parent a long time ago.

Even during Blank and Mizuki's fight, before she was possessed by Elyssa, the avatar had told Yuri during his recalling of events that Natsuki had attempt to solve things peacefully by giving herself up without any resisting.

Natsuki had never wanted to go against her dad. Not only due to fear, but she still loved him after everything.

In most stories with family-oriented themes, one of the most highlighted concepts would be the unconditional love that a parent has for their child or children.

Nevertheless here, what we have instead is a daughter that had nothing but the most unconditional love for her estranged father. The very same father that had caused so much hurt and pain towards her.

And she was returning it all with love instead, very willingly too.

"I don't need a reason, papa. I just do. I love you." she manages to let out in-between her muffled sobs.

It would take a while for their relationship to be completely mended. Years of disconnect had made sure of that.

But this, this was a start. The beginning of a new chapter in their lives, one of ongoing forgiveness.

Yuri's heart swelled, when she saw that Mizuki had finally embraced his daughter back, and even returned the hug instead of harshly pushing Natsuki away again.

"I love you too, Natsuki. Please forgive papa, for taking so long to finally say that."

Caressing her hair with one hand and tightly holding Natsuki close to his chest with his other one, he begged for her forgiveness in a thoroughly broken voice.

Yuri said nothing, quietly letting the pair have their moment.

"I'm so sorry, for everything..."

Through the tears, Natsuki nuzzled her face in Mizuki's chest even further with a smile, relishing in the comfort of her father that she had been so starved of for so many years.

"Let's go home, papa."

-Chapter 18 END-

A/N: Okay I know I'm going overboard with the returning stuff. Seriously, I bet some of you are now "So does anyone even DIE in this story anymore, lame!", but you can blame my fiancee for this "Mizuki redemption side arc" thingy. Ugh. I wanted him to stay dead but then I had to begrudgingly admit the potential for this to take off. One thing though, Mizuki's return was set up the moment I hinted way back then that the Dokis were going to retain stuff from DDLC-world. As you can see in Natsuki's case, the item she retained was that ruby necklace which acted basically as a compressed version of Natsayurika's portal running on Blank's "Forever Sayori" command loop.

Oh and this was a very short chapter for TWBTS standards, sorry about that. But this scene needed to be by itself.

As for Natsayurika, that doki hybrid really is dead. No way to bring her back unfortunately. But yeah, Mizuki is back from limbo. #DealWithIt

One more thing. If it wasn't quite clear before, one of the major themes for the "School Pandemonium" story arc is redemption. The act of being redeemed can come in many forms. For Izuna, he's working to redeem himself from being quite the, if we're being frank here, useless protagonist combat-wise. Alter-Monika is redeeming herself from her past, and was given a new chance at life due to her determination. Now, Mizuki is trying to redeem himself for atonement, and to reconcile with his daughter, Natsuki.

Last thing for real now, I swear. If everything goes according to plan, we're finally going to put the "School" in "School Pandemonium" around Chapter 21 or 22!

See you all in the next update!