*is still crying too much to give a proper author's note*
…
Sylvia had tears rolling down her face as she placed her paw on Perry's. The teal platypus did not pull away.
"That's why the day I arrived is known as E-Day," she whispered.
"What I hate is that many people think E-Day stands for Earthquake Day, instead of being named after Edith, which it is. If she hadn't taken charge and got everyone out in time, we would have all died. But then…"
Tears fell down Perry's face. Sylvia put her arms around him and hugged him fiercely. She hated that he had had to go through this. Losing his mate and son at the same time must have really, really hurt him.
"I'm so sorry…"
"No, I'm sorry," said Perry, making Sylvia pull away in surprise. "I treated you horribly, just because you look like Edith. There was no call for how hard I pushed you and how nasty I was to you."
"It's okay," Sylvia said softly. "I completely understand. You were still grieving and then along I came, looking exactly like your deceased mate. I bet you felt that like a blade to the stomach."
"Kinda," Perry admitted. "But the worst part…the worst part is that she was pregnant again."
"No…!" gasped Sylvia, her hands flying to cover her mouth.
He nodded solemnly. "Yeah…that's why it was extra-devastating. I never got to meet our second child. I don't even know if it was going to be a girl or a boy."
Sylvia was silent for a moment. Then she said, "Pinky and Natasha have been really worried about you. Really worried."
"Our counsellor diagnosed me with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, and anxiety," Perry told her. "So I guess they were worried."
"Of course they were." Sylvia put her paw on Perry's shoulder. "They're your best friends. They didn't like seeing you so upset."
Perry sighed and looked away.
Sylvia frowned, deep in thought. Out of the blue, she asked, "Can I be excused from training for this evening and tomorrow until lunch?"
Perry stared at her. "Why?"
"There's something I need to do. Desperately."
Sylvia made a pleading face at Perry, who frowned. "I-I suppose I could let you, seeing as you've made so much progress in just three days…" He paused. "Okay."
"Yay!" Sylvia hugged Perry briefly, startling him, before she pulled away, gathered up Nicky and his belongings, and literally ran out of the room.
Perry watched her go, confused.
…
Sylvia raced up to Perry's office, hoping to bump into Pinky on her way there. She didn't, though she did find the female fennec fox whom she had seen with Pinky.
"Hi, are you Pinky's friend?" she asked, breathless.
The fennec fox gave a smile. "I'm his girlfriend, Natasha. You must be Sylvia."
Sylvia nodded. "It's really nice to meet you but I'm in a hurry. I need to find Pinky."
"Why?"
"I need to talk to both of you."
"Oh. Okay."
Natasha led Sylvia to Pinky's office, where the Chihuahua was sat behind his desk. He turned as they came in.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"I need your help," Sylvia said breathlessly. "Perry just told me what happened to Edith."
Pinky and Natasha exchanged a look. "Oh," said Pinky.
"I have something planned for him but I need your help to make it work."
"What is it?" Natasha asked.
Sylvia told them.
Pinky's face lit up first. "You'd really do that for Perry?"
"It's my forte," Sylvia explained. "I thought that this might be able to get through to Perry that he's not alone in this."
Natasha was nodding. "Absolutely. It's brilliant."
"Now, I'm hoping to finish it before tomorrow morning and perform it at lunchtime, so that leaves a morning to put everything into place, including learning the thing. Okay?"
"We'll meet you in reception at seven," Natasha said. "Lunch is at twelve. That gives us five hours to put everything together. Does that sound doable?"
"Perfect."
…
Sylvia burst into her apartment. She almost threw Nicky and his toys into his cot, before getting out her laptop and setting it up on her table. Then she got out her keyboard and placed that perpendicular to her laptop. Ideas were buzzing around her head. Usually it took her days to write a song but she had so much inspiration for both lyrics and tune that she was confident she would be able to finish it in about twelve hours. Hopefully.
"Mummy!" shouted Nicky.
Sylvia got up from her chair and picked Nicky out of the cot. She put the baby platypus on the table behind her laptop and gave him Moofie to play with. The table was too high for him to get down from and she would be able to keep an eye on him.
Sitting down behind the keyboard, Sylvia played a few notes and wrote them down.
Within five hours, she had finished the melody completely.
Within twelve hours, she had the lyrics.
By midnight, she had her song.
…
What is Sylvia planning? Find out next chapter!