Mable: Well… I managed to miss the deadline. I'm not very happy with myself, but I intend to just move on.
Before I begin, however, I have two guest reviewers who sent in questions!

HoiTM: Thank you for reviewing! Mari would be capable of befriending an adult. Especially if they did have those attributes, as he would open up a little. Though, just like with the adults he has befriended, he would need an amount of time to become comfortable with them. Mari would appreciate adult companionship after dealing with so many children- that is, a trustworthy adult. ^-^

Lonecl0ud: Thank you for reviewing! Mike and Mari are currently in those beginning stages of a relationship, those bubbly days where two people cling for what affection they can get, which is why they constantly have their hands on each other. XD The gushy stuff actually is a step along the way, especially in the last chapter when it was relevant for Foxy catching them in the act. All relationships go through stages and change, so this is just a step in the road. ^-^

Feel free to send in questions. If you have an account on Fanfiction I will be glad to PM you and if you're a guest then I can reply to you here. I will answer any question… Except spoiler based ones, naturally. XD
Anyway, I hope you Enjoy!

Can't Go Home Again

Chapter Fifty-Five

Marionette was ready to face Baby. Keeping his head high and his posture straight, fully ready and competent, he approached the female clown. "Baby, I returned," Marionette announced with a mostly emotionless tone.

"Oh, good. I feared you wouldn't," Baby quietly pointed out as she looked to him. "Where did you go?"

"I went for answers, Baby, and I found them," Marionette explained. "Afton did not create me. Henry did."

"…Henry?" Baby sounded confused, as though she didn't know who he was. The Puppet didn't know if she honestly didn't know or if she was pretending not to know.

"Henry Johnson. Though that isn't important," the Puppet insisted. "Instead, let us discuss why I am here… Or more straightforwardly, why you think I would make the same offer twice." This time, his voice was much more even. He wanted her to know that he was not going to budge. Hopefully, she would just give up her begging. "I don't trust you."

"But… Why not?" Baby asked in an almost meek tone. She seemed surprised that he was being so resistant. "I know that our last meeting ended tragically, but I promise that I've changed! I'm different now." She was firmly insistent and looked over his face with flickering, twitching eyes.

"I can't trust you, Baby, and even if I thought I could, I can't control you. I couldn't stop you from doing something terrible," Marionette pointed out. "I can't force you to be honest, and I have my suspicions."

"Are you not some sort of puppeteer? Can't you control other animatronics?" Baby was becoming desperate. "You- I would never do anything- but if I did, you could force me to stop. Using your strings, you could control me!"

"I resent that," Marionette remarked. "I only 'control' animatronics when somebody's in impending doom. I can't just play babysitter- literal 'baby' sitter- because I cannot trust you." He looked down towards the floor. "…And I can't trust you because you're not being honest." The female animatronic became more desperate and frantic at these words.

"But I am being honest!" Baby insisted, suddenly having much more emotion in her voice. Before, she sounded unflappable, especially in the dreams. Now she was completely at his mercy.

"Then where is Ennard?" Marionette snapped back. "Why will you not tell me where the others are?" This was followed by silence. Baby's eyes rolled to the floor and she stared at the tile for a moment.

"…The others are gone…" Shockingly enough, there was true honesty in this comment. Not the 'possibly pretending' honesty that Marionette had become familiar with. "…They left me. It's only me now… That's why I need you. I can't stay down here alone. Singing, dancing, being happy- happy children- I want to be there. I don't need a body, I know that now. I know now that humans… Can't be taken apart and put back together. Not like us." Everything sounded so good, but that didn't mean he would let himself believe.

"…Do you remember being human? Do you remember being a little girl, before all of this?" Marionette inquired. It virtually had nothing to do with the current conversation's direction, but he felt like he still had to ask it.

"I don't remember it," Baby admitted. "I don't remember much from a long time ago… Why?" She seemed to notice how forlorn the Puppet looked. "Is that wrong? Should I remember?"

"…It's not unheard of. Many of the others like us do not remember being human. It's just easier when they do…" Either way, Marionette wasn't sure what he felt like. "…I can't agree to this. You will hurt someone. I know you will hurt someone." He laid a hand over his eyes as he tried to think it through.

"I can sing, I can- I think I can make ice cream still- I blow up balloons! I can do so much good for them, for the pizzeria, let me go with you!" Baby was not holding back any longer. She was outright begging and seemed unafraid to show her own weakness. Maybe she could tell that he was starting to cave; that he did truly feel bad about the entire scenario. Every time he looked at her, he imagined that little girl with the strawberry blonde hair, whose life was cut tragically short. He couldn't remember their time together, but he knew he had loved her.

And Baby's behavior was entirely unexpected. Before, she had been so composed, so precise, but now she was a flustered mess. He couldn't tell if this was out of panic or out of 'pretending'; she was like a completely different person. Maybe she could tell that his resolve was weakening, as the pleads abruptly stopped. In their place was a simple offer.

"Just give me a week, please. Give me a week to try and prove that I can do it," Baby asked with a finality in her voice. "…Please, Marionette."

Unfortunately, Mike wasn't standing beside him, and thus Marionette knew he would falter.

In the Circus Control, Mike had given up on trying to listen in, as it wasn't working, and was now fiddling with the radio. He turned it on and spoke through, "Hey, are you there?" To mild surprise, Phone Guy didn't respond. "Hello, hello?" Mike tried again, and again there was nothing. Shrugging it off as the man falling asleep, he turned the radio back off and distracted himself a different way. More specifically, with the flashlight that he proceeded to try and shine through the windows.

He could get a slightly better look at Marionette and Baby, but they seemed too distracted to pay attention to the extremely dim light. For whatever reason, the windows mostly reflected the direct light, and it was only because Mike had brought a different flashlight from last time that he was able to see at all. He then began to scan the room. While there were tables and a few decorations, he doubted that there were ever parties down here. Probably just another simulated room. It was a shame Phone Guy wasn't answering; he had some questions for him.

Mike didn't trust Baby enough to leave and talk to Fritz. No doubt in the moment he would be gone, Ennard would suddenly appear and start causing trouble. It was better just to wait, even if it meant that he had little to do. He continued to shine the flashlight along the windows and out towards the other side of the Circus Gallery. He expected to see nothing, but suddenly the light was cast over a figure.

For a split second, he swore it was Ennard. The wire covered body seemed to suggest this, even if it was much less tangled. However, the head was what revealed that it wasn't the same being. Instead of a clown mask covering an endoskeleton resembling head, it looked much more like a version of Freddy, and stared Mike down. It was clearly uninterested in both Marionette and Baby, and instead looked towards the lone human. Though this was all in a single moment. Out of reflex alone, Mike suddenly flicked off the flashlight, and by time he turned it back on it was gone.

It had been a kneejerk reaction, but he was regretting it now. Mike quickly scanned the area surrounding the control room before checking again on Marionette and Baby. By now, Marionette's body language signaled distress, but he didn't seem to have noticed what had been in the room.

Then the room suddenly turned cold. A heavy sensation weighed on his back and Mike knew something, perhaps the Freddy he had seen, was behind him. There was no way it could've gotten into the office and yet he felt it behind him. He could smell a metallic scent, like wet metal, and hear the dull sound of breathing behind him. Raspy breathing that was only deafened by the sound of his own pounding heartbeat. He went completely still, as though out of reflex, and stared ahead at Marionette, hoping that he would somehow be able to tell that something was with him.

It didn't feel like Ennard. It felt to overbearing to be the clown. It felt much more threatening; any movement and he knew it would devour him whole.

Then, Marionette turned towards the control module, still distressed, and teleported inside. In the moment that he vanished, so did whatever was behind him. Its weight was gone before the Puppet could even appear inside.

"Mike, help me," Marionette was overly exasperated and tiredly rubbed his mask. "Please, talk me out of doing something foolish." The security guard said nothing and the Puppet raised his head, looking questioningly.

"What's going on?" Mike forced out. "What did she say?" He knew now that the Puppet hadn't seen whatever was in the module with him. While he knew he needed to say something, he decided not to say anything yet. He had a feeling that if he said even a word, it would come back for him. He would need to wait until they got to safety.

"…She's begging to be taken away from here. She's absolutely pitiful. Unfortunately, not as pitiful as me," Marionette quietly added in the last part with a huff. "…I know she's a liar. I know she can hurt me… So why is it that I even consider…? Mike, please, tell me what to do." He looked to Mike with desperation.

Naturally, Mike wanted to get out of Afton's as fast as possible, which may have influenced his next remark. "Isn't that what we came down here to do?"

"…What?" Marionette blankly asked.

"We said we were coming to 'talk', but we brought everyone and the van. There was a chance that we were leaving with her," he pointed out to the animatronic. "Personally, I don't trust her, but Baby isn't like Ennard. She's got some sort of emergency stop in her leg." In all honesty, Mike had no reason to trust Baby and, frankly, wanted nothing to do with her. But he knew if he made this choice for Marionette, it was bound to come back and haunt him. "It's your call, Mari. You'll know better than I can."

"Mike, this-… this isn't like our last sudden decision. This isn't a scenario where we can just 'go with it'. Someone can get hurt!" Marionette protested. Though he seemed more to be convincing himself.

"And it'll probably be me," Mike remarked as he glanced out towards where the Freddy being had once stood. "All I can tell you is what I read from the blueprint, and that's that she isn't like the others… But I don't trust her. I think if she could, she would make another grab at my body." His tone gained a bit more animosity in it. "She's also not really making a great impression, dropping lines about Afton. Bothering you about that… But in the end, I'm not emotionally invested. You are."

"But I don't want to be!" Marionette wearily admitted. "I'm so tired of worrying about my siblings… So, tired of worrying about other, miserable animatronics. Am I the only one happy in my fabric?" Mike nearly made a remark about his endoskeleton, but held back. He dropped his head, "I don't want to decide."

"I don't either," Mike admitted. He paused, then gestured a thumb to the vent. "Let's ask Fritz."

"Fritz?... Alright." So, they decided to turn to the technician, who was still sitting in the control module. It seemed like a good enough idea; neither of them would have to take responsibility for their own decisions.

It didn't take long to get Fritz up to speed and by the end he looked startled by the suggestion alone. "I thought Baby was part of the animatronic that attacked you both."

"She was and probably still is," Mike pointed out matter-of-factly. "She's saying that she's not planning on attacking anyone, but she's not exactly trustworthy. It's a mixed bag."

The Puppet now volunteered, "I do believe that she believes in her words. She may be desperate enough to escape that she won't be a danger… Especially if we can get her away from the Scooper and show her that being a working animatronic is rewarding. She is the only one that wasn't created to harm or kidnap children, after all. That… Gives her a better chance than the others, wherever they are."

"And she's got an emergency stop on her leg," Mike reminded yet again. "I don't know where or how it works, but she can be shut down if she doesn't 'play nice'." He emphasized the last words with quotation hand gestures. "Not that I'm on Baby's side here. I'm just keeping the option open."

Fritz looked like he wanted to decline out of reflex. Unfortunately, while Marionette and Mike were held back by their own uncertainty, Fritz felt the businessman inside him perk at the thought. "If she was safe enough then… Then it would be a great opportunity for the pizzeria. We all are feeling the effects of the increase in customers and kids. There's just too many parties and too many kids, and… And we could really use a female animatronic. I don't mean the Minireenas either; this can't be controlled."

He then gestured back at the fussing Minireenas. Somehow, they had turned their bodies towards each other, and were now trying to climb over each other at the same time. In a way, they were borderline fighting, and neither was getting any closer to escaping their current binding. "I don't remember exactly what was on Baby's blueprints, but I remember an ice cream dispenser. If we had an animatronic dispensing ice cream then we could spend less time in the kitchen. More girls might be interested in coming because of Baby… She's a good investment, if she's safe."

"That's an 'if' that we can't a clear answer for either…" Marionette lamented as he looked back towards the vent. "…But… Perhaps it's worth a try? Maybe… Maybe she really is telling the truth. Maybe the others poisoned her mind, made her do what she tried to do, and she really can be trusted. Then she, Foxy, and I… We could rebuild the family and help the pizzeria grow." He gave a soft chime. "It does feel lonely, sometimes. There used to be so many of us and now it's just Foxy and I."

In a way, Mike didn't want Marionette to agree to Baby coming with them, but he stayed silent on that. Technically, Baby couldn't hurt them anyway; she was slow, hulking figure that would be far away from any sort of scooping mechanism. This felt like it was a bad idea… "So how are we going to move her?" …but Mike wasn't afraid to take a risk.

"I think the van can fit her and carry her weight. It won't fit her and Foxy at the same time," Fritz admitted.

"We'll just ditch Foxy," Mike casually butted in. "Or better yet, Phone Guy can carry him in his car. He is his favorite, after all." With amused smirk, Mike turned back towards the vent, laying a hand on Marionette's back as he did. "You can tell Baby that we're bringing her back with us…" His voice dropped quieter, "And make sure she knows that if she gives us hell, she's going into the haunted warehouse." If it was enough to scare Foxy, hopefully it would intimidate Baby a little bit.

By time Marionette returned to Baby's side, he was already regretting his decision. Looking at her, he really felt that ill, forewarning feeling in his core. This time he forced it down and returned to an even exterior. "We've come to a decision. I'm not fully convinced, but it is a decision nonetheless," Marionette began, "and that is to bring you to the pizzeria with us." Almost immediately, Baby seemed to straighten happily, and he swore he could hear some sort of small squeak of delight.

"...But Baby, if you hurt anyone, if you do anything to hurt anyone… I am not giving you more than one chance," the Puppet firmly stated, raising a single finger. "One chance. You will not hurt anyone, you will forget the desire to be in a human body, and you will be honest. If you are not able to do this, then there will be no more forgiveness."

"I'll do whatever I need to," Baby insisted, her voice returning to its previous normality. Again, it was soft and patient, and no longer held a single trace of her begging and pleading. If anything, she just seemed to sound a little happier. "I promise that I will do whatever I can."

"We'll help you to adjust. We'll show you what you need to do and by time you're on stage, you will be ready to adjust to the children. We won't just throw you to the wolves." Marionette eased in his tone and offered his hand. "We can take this one step of a time, but only if you can do the same." To his delight, she reached back to him. As her large hand clumsily grasped for his, he felt a perk of delight. Maybe, just maybe, he would finally have his sister back.

Moving Baby was a tedious process. It wasn't possible to move her through the vents, so they instead had to move her through a maze of doorways that connected the Circus Gallery, the Ballora Gallery, and the foyer in front of the elevator. Baby did not speak during this process, but she did move on her own. All the humans, mostly Mike and Fritz, had to do was direct her to the elevator. Foxy made his feelings clear by his continued distance to the female clown. Especially since he also kept Jeremy close by, who was holding his new Minireenas close.

Unfortunately, Fritz's earlier predictions were correct. Baby and Foxy couldn't both fit into the van. However, instead of trying to fit Foxy into someone's car, it was just decided that he would wait in Afton's until Fritz returned in the van. Shockingly enough, he allowed Jeremy to head home with the Minireenas, and didn't protest when Marionette went with Fritz and Baby in the van. This just left the fox animatronic, Mike, and Phone Guy who was still in his car. With him and Foxy still on the verge of not talking, Mike decided to sit in Phone Guy's car.

He didn't seem to have been asleep at all, but Mike decided not to inquire about the radio. He suspected too much that the thing he saw and felt in the Circus Module had somehow blocked the radio. Instead, the conversation took a different direction.

"Do you know what Afton did to the animatronics after he dismantled them? Something about 'concept unification'?" the security guard eventually inquired. By now, Fritz was due to be returning shortly and he knew he didn't have much time, but he wanted some sort of clue.

The older man seemed a little surprised by the question. "Uh… Just probably wanted them out of the way. Once they started to fight back, he probably just… Didn't want the risk?" Phone Guy suggested. "Concept unification is just a fancy way of saying that they changed the outside suits and used the same endoskeleton on the inside. It's really impressive to see it in person- I only saw it once, but it was replacing a Bonnie exterior with another Bonnie exterior. So, it really wasn't a unification of concepts. It was more of a Bonnie becoming another Bonnie."

Phone Guy's hands were shaking in his lap. Mike noticed it and briefly let the seemingly standard answer drop. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, this- this is normal. I'd be doing this even if I wasn't out here… But it's probably not helping it being here," Phone Guy admitted as he awkwardly rubbed his hands together. "In case you're wondering, it was a lot worse after my accident. Now it's mostly in my hands and it's mostly under control." This only reassured that Phone Guy had received extensive damage, which Mike already suspected by the missing leg.

"I'm sorry," he apologized out of reflex.

"Don't be. I lived through something that should've killed me. That- That counts for something, right?" the older gave an awkward smile at this point. He did seem a little stressed.

"Thank you for sticking around. I'm not exactly in the position to shoot the breeze with Foxy," Mike pointed out as he glanced to the building. It was then that the previous conversation resurfaced. He focused in on animatronics being repurposed. "…You don't think any of the old Freddy bots were repurposed into something else, do you?" That opened the door for a lot of terrible possibilities. "A lot of the animatronics they had filed away were dismantled. Would he have stuck those in another body?"

"I-… Uh… You know, I don't think so," Phone Guy admitted with a shrug. "Other than the parts used from the old animatronics in the toys, there wasn't a lot of part swapping happening. William was- to be honest- proud of what he created. In a way that he would be too proud to reuse parts. Especially anything that Henry made. They were constantly in competition and… I'm rambling," he finished with a small chuckle. "Don't worry about that. There's too much more to worry about."

"That's true. The pizzeria and everything. Afton's the last person we need to worry about," Mike agreed, not really wanting to think about the man any more than he had to. "What's the chance of him popping back up."

"I don't- that's not going to happen," Phone Guy bluntly stated. Though he then looked out the window; silently blocking off further questions. Mike looked to him in questioning, though then assumed that Fritz had told him about Golden Bonnie at some point. The rest of the wait was silent until the van returned from the pizzeria. Seeing the van pull into the parking lot, Mike perked and opened the door.

"That's my cue to leave. Think you can get home alright?" Mike asked and Phone Guy looked amused.

"I think I remember how to drive," Phone Guy remarked, "just be careful with that- with Baby, okay?"

"I will. Thanks for coming by," Mike finished and fell silent. It was a weird way to end a conversation, but it wasn't as though he had a better way to finish it. It got a confused look from Phone Guy, but Mike shut the door shortly afterwards and headed over towards the van. Before he could even get a few feet away from the car, the window was suddenly rolled down.

"Mike, wait," the Phone Guy called after him and Mike looked back. After a moment, he returned to the car, leaning down to the window.

"Yeah?" Mike asked, noticing the funny look that was now on Phone Guy's face. "Something wrong?"

It took Phone Guy a moment to get the words out. In this moment, he studied Mike's face, contemplating whether or not he was going to continue. Then he did with a blunt, "You don't know my name, do you?"

"Geez. He's onto me." Mike decided that his only way out was to be quick and concise. "…No." He then patted the roof of the car and turned to leave, "Take care!"

He didn't know if Phone Guy was dumbstruck, amused, or glaring daggers at the back of his head. He didn't look back to check.

By time Mike got back to the house, Marionette was already waiting for him. It was now pushing the later hours of night, but neither was tired after the lengthy trip. It felt almost jarring to have left Afton's without injury. It was a relief, but it felt strange to have everything go so smoothly. Other than the lingering disturbance that remained of the strange animatronic. Thankfully, Mike had seen not a glimpse of it or felt any sort of sensation that it was looming nearby. Whatever it was, it must have stayed down in Afton's.

So, they settled into a normal night. The TV was on sitcom reruns and Marionette had somehow convinced Mike to play the Fazbear board game once again. He was still running on the post-nightly duties thrill; it felt remarkably like the one he used to get after his nights at Freddy's, but left him vulnerable to agreeing to anything. Thus, here they were moving Freddy and Bonnie around the board. At least Marionette was having a good time. Mike somewhat suspected that this was partially because of Baby's cooperation with everything.

He wanted his sister back. Mike knew it, Marionette was starting to admit it, and Baby was almost willing to go along with it. For now, Baby and Foxy needed their rest, and Marionette had to contain any excitement through brief looks to the sitcom and 'strategizing'. Every few minutes, Mike could hear him singing under his breath.

"When today becomes tomorrow, will we find joy or sorrow? Sing a song,~" Marionette murmured as he proceeded to land on the game's equivalent to Monopoly's community chest. At least he was soothing in his singing, because even with few rules or choice, he was again managing to stay consistently in the lead.

"We need another board game," Mike vocally announced in his own murmur as he went for the dice. He rolled the dice around in his hand before throwing. A three; of course, he couldn't even manage snake eyes. The Puppet gave an amused chime, but remained uninterrupted.

"Is it wrong? To put all our hopes together and wish for something better, is it wrong?~" Now Mike looked upwards to him.

"Sort of a depressing direction, isn't it?" he offered teasingly and glanced over to the TV. He didn't want to watch his competitor's turn; it would just hurt too much.

"Not at all! In fact, personally, the song has always sounded like the beginning to an adventure," Marionette quipped back. "And we could start over if you'd like."

"I'd rather keep the rest of my dignity and lose like a man," Mike pointed out. He was almost immediately followed by a call on his cell, which was resting on the dining room table. It had been off during his trip into Afton's and he had missed multiple calls, but now it was randomly ringing in the middle of the night. His first thought was to ignore it, "What adventure are we on?"

"The adventure of life, of course!" Marionette remarked with a widening smile. Then he looked to the table. "Perhaps you should get that. It could be Fritz."

"It could be my relatives. Anyone calling this late doesn't have good news." Even when saying this, Mike stood to answer the call. "Roll for me." It was late, he was slightly tired, and so he wasn't even thinking as he answered the call. "Hello?" Then the voice came through and he tensed in alarm. Marionette must have noticed, somehow, as he peered around the couch at him. Mike was standing there, almost gawking, as he listened to the voice. Then he choked out a sudden, surprised, "Mom?"

At this point, the words were barely audible. It was just a scrambled mess of weeping and 'oh my goodness, Mikey' and a brick wall of, "What the hell am I supposed to say now?! Shouldn't have even answered the phone this late!" Naturally, Marionette was still watching and could clearly see that the stunned look was still present. It was as though the sheer shock was too much to suppress. If he couldn't outlet it through his voice, or through ending the call, he would just have to stand there looking like he had just learned the meaning of life; if the meaning of life was jarringly uncomfortable.

"Mom, just, stop crying," Mike was nearly begging as he ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah, it's been a while…" She was sober, clearly, but she was sobbing so hard that her words were difficult to make out. Meanwhile, Marionette was only seeing half of the conversation, and Mike's relatively reluctant answers weren't helping. He wouldn't be lying if he admitted that he wanted Mike to speak to his mother. Though he had hoped it would be in person and that it would end with a hug or something like it.

Communication didn't improve at first. Mike sat down at the table and small talked his way through whatever questions his mother had for him. He looked uncomfortable, he sounded uncomfortable, and Marionette expected him to fully shut down. To his surprise, eventually Mike broke down and began to respond.

"I'm doing good. I'm a co-owner of a pizzeria," he explained, and continued to answer. "Good, but we're still trying to get footing… Actually, yeah, it does. I don't pay rent, that's not an issue, but everything else is taken care of… Of course, I'm not married… I am in a relationship, but we're not looking to rush into any sort of marriage… Yeah… I miss you too, Mom."

That last line was so stilted. Mike had to force it out and only did so because some part of him still wanted to appease his mother. Even after all these years, something in him forced him to stay civil, honest, and wanted him to keep the conversation open. "We've just had our hands full. Everything has to be in order by the summer, when school lets out, so we're all working overtime. In fact, I did overtime tonight… No, Mom, it was unpaid… No, Mom, I'm a co-owner; there's nobody I can complain to."

Expectedly, the call ended rather abruptly soon after that point. It wasn't until Mike had ended the call and set his phone back down that he felt the backwash of emotions. Failure; after refusing to give in and see her again, he shamelessly spoke to her like it was nothing. Dread; she could appear at his home at any time, completely uninvited. Shame, anger, brief sadness; he wasn't ready to admit to positive emotions. Not when it involved talking with his mother. The last time he had spoken to her, her words were too slurred to keep a real conversation.

"I'm guessing you heard that," Mike spoke as he moved back to his position on the floor and did whatever he could to not look Marionette in the eyes. "That was Mom," he continued as he looked down at the game board now, "Because of course it was Mom." He didn't add anything in after that, so Marionette took his turn.

"I think it's great that you spoke to your mother. You should invite her over when I'm with Baby," the Puppet boldly suggested. This got a half-scoff, half-chuckle out of Mike.

"I don't think one conversation makes up for years of estrangement, Mari," Mike pointed out as he moved Bonnie around the board. "It's a start, but I'm not ready to start house visits. That's going to wait until I'm sane enough to deal with someone snooping around my house." He would stand firm by this. He just wasn't ready to throw himself into rebuilding a relationship, not when the memories were still clearly there.

"Maybe you should at least call her again sometime," Marionette pointed out. "I know I'm an outsider in this situation, but I think it's worth trying to salvage your bond. It doesn't erase what she did in the past, but it could help you in the future…" He was definitely biased. Out of all his relatives, he missed his mother the most. He missed his mother and barely even knew her. All he knew was from pictures and videos, and it frustrated him that there was no way to even engage her. Her soul was long gone, unreachable, and untethered by anything here.

"We'll see," Mike admitted with an unsurprising amount of indifference. "Don't worry about it. We've got enough to deal with tomorrow."

Marionette gave a nod of agreement and proceeded to let the conversation drop. Though only after he reached out, put his hand on Mike's, and added in, "I am proud of you." He didn't dwell on it. That one comment and he let the conversation fall. Mike was only more than happy to return to their game together, to block out any of the deep-rooted emotions that the phone call singlehandedly dredged up on its own. At least they had the evening.

"There'll be sunshine shining and we'll find the silver lining another day. Tomorrow is another day.~"

Mable: I am aiming to get the next chapter done on the proper day next week. XD Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed!