I just realized that Keeper is going to be incredibly easy for me to finish. So I'm going to handle that accordingly. Since I haven't played Kingdom Hearts in years, I'm going to attempt to push out the final chapter of Little Superior Dude and then, for a little while at least, discontinue Twilight Town Psychiatric Facility and Chatroom.

I have a lot on my plate with schoolwork, student council, TV studio, Library Club, Homecoming, Drama Club…just stuff in general. 10th grade is my first year of high school and it's a roller coaster so please bear with me. I would have tried to push more stuff out in the summer but my computer died mid-July and I can't go writing the next few steamy chapters of Hole with my mom's work computer, can I?

Alice Catherine (aka Ayanami) still loves you all and apologizes for the long delay. I know this is way harder for all the people who put Superior Dude on alert (and there were a LOT!) and had to wait and entire year. But I do promise you that I will have that and discontinuation notes on the other two fics.

Now onto the fic. In this chapter, Manfred realizes how much he loves his mommy.

Chapter 3

Mother's Keeper

Manfred got a car, a watch, and a hug from his mother for his 19th birthday. I mention the hug because, at least in his opinion, it was the best present he'd ever gotten.

He got all dressed up, on the imploring of Cook, to go have tea with Dorothy. At first he was adamant about the idea.

"Why in the hell should I have to go see her when all she's done is make me miserable since-"

SMACK!

"Do not speak of that poor woman like that in front of me ever again, you horrible boy!" Manfred touched his stinging face. His heart, however, hurt much more than his face, because he knew Cook was right. His mother had done absolutely nothing to him. The real reason he had avoided his mother all this time was because of all of the pain he had put her through. He didn't want to have to face her after doing what he did.

But he knew he was going to have to at some point. So what better time than his 19th birthday? I mean, quite honestly, dear Manfred should have gone for his 18th, but…

So he walked into the music kitchen after his little birthday ceremony with his father, in which he got the car (about fucking time, now I can leave this shithole every once and a while), the watch (tradition for every Bloor at the age of 18 to inherit the watch but Manfred had been in the hospital for his 18th birthday due to a bad case of Charlie Bone), and the general praise for being so devious (which I shouldn't even do anymore because you kicked out my Zelda, the only thing that kept me from running besides the fear that I'd be gunned down by this crazy mafia). He had been wearing his usual thing, a black dress shirt and black slacks, with a black tie, and his black cloak. If he'd been standing in night time he would be invisible. This was perfect for sneaking up on small, unsuspecting children, but was it really such a good idea to wear to tea with his mother?

Cook certainly didn't think so.

"C'mere, you! You're all scruffy and dark! Not a proper gentleman at all!" And with that she shoved him into the bathroom.

"You could use a good shower, too, dear!" Manfred started mumbling things about the smell coming with the job, but then again something compelled him to get undressed and step into the shower. Maybe it was the fact that he was going to see his mother for the first time in a long time…she had moved to Paris and was so far from him. Then she had moved back into the city to protect the endowed but wanted nothing to do with him.

So why now? Probably because it was his birthday. And she did still love him, she just couldn't handle him.

At the end of the forced shower, Cook shoved clothes through the door.

"Hurry up and get dressed! The only one who wants an eyeful of that is Miss Dobinski and heaven knows why she hasn't gone blind by now!" She said sharply. Manfred looked at the freshly folded clothes in his arms. Starched, pressed white shirt. Purple tie. Navy blue slacks. He pulled them on disdainfully and walked out into the kitchen.

Jesus Christ. If Vertigo sees me walking down the hall like this, she'll…

"Ah, ah, ah." Cook's stubby fingers grabbed him by the color.

"Your hair. Is absolutely stringy and atrocious." She brought out a round brush and for ten minutes straight the cook/beautician mercilessly pulled the brush through his thin, knotty hair. When she was done, she stood back and looked him up and down.

"Presentable. Your mother should be here shortly." Manfred rolled his eyes, but inside he smiled.

What? Even a nasty little boy being groomed for the Evil Endowed Mastermind has to sensitive sometimes!

He sat on a chair at a nice, ornate round table and waited for his mother for what seemed like eternity. Finally, the door swung open and the next thing Manfred knew his lungs were being crushed.

What the hell is going on here?! Did Bone lead me into a trap that includes my body being crushed…oh, Zelda, I wish I would have seen you one more time…

He did feel a bit silly when he realized it was just his mother pulling him into a very tight embrace. She pulled away and gazed at her nineteen-year-old son.

"Oh, Manfred. I've missed you something terrible! What has it been, 2 years?" His mother was in an uncharacteristically good mood. She looked pretty good, too. Her hair had gone from gray-white to almost-blonde, and her face had regained some of its color. She had gained a bit of weight, which was good, seeing as she was a frail rail the last time he had seen her. She was wearing a bright, colorful wrap dress and red high-heeled shoes. She had put just enough makeup on her face to cover embarrassing spots. But then, her face had regained most of its life anyway, so why did she need it?

"Yes, Mother. I haven't seen you since I was seventeen." He felt a bit awkward around her still. Even though he had seen her, she hadn't really been "Mom" since he was about 6, and they hadn't talked since he was 11.

And then they talked. And talked. About everything. From Manfred's duties at Bloor's to the excellent concert halls Dorothy played at. And then they came to the subject that Dorothy had, quite honestly, come to discuss.

"Your father wants you to marry Mistress Alveriola. You know. Samantha Alveriola. The spear girl…with the nice blonde hair?" Manfred nodded furtively.

God I hate her. She's such a rich bitch and cold as ice and Inez. But I owe my mom.

What about Zelda…?

"I disagree, however, and I request that you marry a certain girl that I have seen you fall in love with since you were 12. She is also endowed. I don't understand why your father has such a problem with her."

Ha. Of course he does. Her parents have left her an orphan and even though she's endowed she had to quit Bloor's since she didn't have the money…or the blind loyalty…that she used to have.

"I still hold some sway over your future, and I have given it up to you to decide, if you want to even marry at all, who to marry. And I don't give a…damn…what your father thinks." And they both smiled, and Dorothy gave her son another hug, not as bone crushing, but still warm and firm.

"I love you, Mom." He says, just like he's 6 again and his mom has just forgiven him for something that his dad has just punished him for.

"I love you, too, Freddy."

Watching from the cafeteria was a man with a pencil-like mustache and a weary, unloved look to him.

"Dorothy…" He said, and it was the first time Dr. Bloor had missed his wife in a decade.

Woot. I am actually very pleased with this. VERY pleased. I love it. You will too. Press the review button and fill my AIM inbox with how you think this chapter is kick ass.