AN: Hello everyone! I am so so so so so so so so SOOOO sorry for how long this took. It took so many drafts before I was happy with this chapter and I started a new story over the winter break so that carved into my time as well. I took part in NaNoWriMo (definitely a story I don't feel like revisiting anytime soon) and I'm back to Puddin! I hope to start a more regular update schedule.

As always, many thanks to my lovely beta annbe11, who is writing a really great Tiger's Curse fanfic (which I beta for) called Tiger's Circus. If there are any Tiger's Curse fans here, I highly recommend you give it a look.

With that said, on with the show!

Chapter 9 – Picking Up the Pieces

"Just my luck I get the Christmas graveyard shift," Punohsa sighed as she trudged up the stairs of the Time Nest, already praying to any god in existence for a drink.

Her friends had originally invited her to a late-night Christmas party, but she had apparently drawn the short straw of life and gotten Scroll Monitor duty for tonight. Now, instead of enjoying margaritas and spending time with her friends, she would only have the Time Scrolls to keep her company. Even the sight of the tree above the Time Nest, decked out with Christmas lights and ornaments, wasn't enough to lift her spirits.

"Why can't we just let the cadets do this?" she grumbled. "They're the bottom of the pecking order. They should be exposed to the lamest part of the job early. But noooooo, we gotta have some of our best and brightest Patrollers and teachers waste their valuable time just watching the Time Scrolls gather dust whenever Chronoa goes off to have a tea party or something." She shook her head again as she reached the top of the stairs. "There had better still be some leftover margaritas when I get-" She froze and tensed. "Wait, why is Evelyn on the ground?"

Punohsa stared down at the motionless Namekian who she was supposed to relieve. Instead of manning his post, he was sprawled across the entryway of the Time Nest. She could see the steady rise and fall of his chest, not to mention the large welt on the side of his head, so she didn't worry about him too much as she stepped over him. She was much more focused on the sounds of movement coming from inside the Time Nest. Calling a small energy ball into her palm, she crept through the entranceway and into the Time Nest.

The room was an absolute mess. Dozens of discarded Time Scrolls were scattered across the table, not to mention what looked like a hundred Scrolls lying all over the floor. Punohsa was just raising her hand to her scouter to call this in when she saw the culprit in all of his neon-colored glory.

"Dumplin?" she said in surprise, allowing her energy blast to dissipate. The Demon God jumped in surprise when she spoke, dropping the armload of Time Scrolls he had been carrying.

"Punohsa! What are you doing here?!"

"I'm here for my shift on Monitor duty," she said, her eyes narrowing. "What are you doing here?" Dumplin hesitated for a moment before he glared at her, bringing his fists up into a fighting stance.

"I need these scrolls," he said. "Puddin's in trouble. If you try to throw me out, I will hurt you."

"Puddin's in trouble?" Punohsa said in surprise. "What happened?" Dumplin blinked in surprise before he shook himself and explained.

"Puddin tried to throw a Christmas celebration for us, but Towa refused to be a part of it. Towa and I had a fight, a really bad one, and it got so bad that I told her to leave, so she packed up her stuff and marched out the door and before I knew it, Puddin was chasing after her, and the moment Towa teleported through time, Puddin got dragged with her." Dumplin's voice had become more and more frantic as time went on, building to a higher pitch. He was even starting to hyperventilate. "Now Puddin has been gone for hours and I don't know where or when she went so I gotta see if I can find her in the Time Scrolls and I am really freaking out because Puddin is alone and scared in a place and time she doesn't know about so I need to find her right now!"

Punohsa stood frozen for a moment before she strode over and grabbed Dumplin's shoulders to make him look at her.

"Dumplin, you need to calm down," she told him. He looked at her in surprise before glaring at her.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?!" he demanded. "And how am I supposed to be calm when my daughter is lost in space and time?!"

"Because you won't do her any good if you whip yourself into a panic. You need to relax, breathe, and focus, okay?"

"This isn't a goddamn Tai Chi class, Punohsa!" snapped Dumplin. "This is my daughter we're talking about!" Punohsa just narrowed her eyes at him.

"Remember what happened in Age 547. We need to do this properly so we don't waste time worrying." Dumplin finally seemed to be starting to calm himself before he stopped and looked at her in confusion.

"We?" he asked

"Of course," she said as she let go of him. "I'm not just going to leave my favorite student hanging." She turned and walked toward another shelf of scrolls. "You focus on that shelf where you are. I'll look through the Scrolls over here." She turned over her shoulder to look Dumplin in the eye. "Don't worry. We'll find her." She started looking through the shelf of Scrolls, trying to make some semblance of reason out of Chronoa's insane filing system, and soon heard Dumplin pick up his dropped Scrolls and start looking through them.

For almost an hour, they passed the time in silence, focusing all of their attention on searching through the Time Scrolls for any sign or hint of Puddin in it. Punohsa had combed through the 'Events Having To Do With Dogs' section and the 'Robots Are Cool' section and the 'Dokis Everywhere' section when she came across a scroll in the 'Earth Really Sucks' section that had the faintest whiff of purple coming from it, showing that there was a minor break in the timeline. Feeling a tiny spark of hope rise in her chest, she pulled out the scroll and rolled it open. Her eyes widened.

"Dumplin! Over here!"

Dumplin was at her side in a flash, trying to get a good look at the scroll in her hand. He gasped when she tilted the scroll to show him the image.

The scroll showed a ruined city, with clouds of dust and refuse drifting across the cracked pavement. The both of them saw Puddin, curled up in the fetal position and sitting against the burnt out husk of a building.

"PUDDIN!" cried Dumplin, almost tearing the scroll out of Punohsa's hands. Punohsa had just enough time to put her hand on Dumplin's shoulder before he used the scroll. The both of them were consumed by a bright flash of light and the world fell away.

When the world came back into focus, they were both standing on top of one of the ruined buildings that were still standing in the middle of the expansive hellscape. Dumplin immediately took to the air and started looking frantically in all directions Punohsa took to the air as well and started looking around.

Within moments, they saw Puddin, just as the scroll had shown.

"Puddin!" Dumplin cried. Puddin's whole body jerked in surprise before she looked up at the two of them flying toward her.

"D…Daddy?" she whimpered. Dumplin hit the ground at a dead waddle-run and threw his arms around her.

"It's okay, sweetheart," he whispered into her ear. "It's okay. I'm here now."

"She's gone…" Puddin sobbed as she buried her face into Dumplin's shoulder. "Daddy, she's gone…"

"I know, Puddin," he said, his voice sounding on the edge of tears.

"Everything is going to be okay, Puddin," Punohsa said as she landed and took a knee next to the father and daughter. Puddin looked up at her in surprise.

"Master Punohsa?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping your father look for you," Punohsa said as if it were obvious. "We had a bit of a scare when you went missing. We should probably be heading back now." She nudged Dumplin's shoulder and he gave a small nod before pulling out the scroll.

"Let's get you home, sweetheart," he said softly. He activated the scroll and they teleported back to the Time Nest in a flash of light. Punohsa stood up, but Dumplin and Puddin stayed as they were for a long time before Dumplin sighed and looked up at her.

"Punohsa, I need to ask a favor," he said.

"What do you need?" she asked.

"Can you take Puddin home and keep an eye on her? I'll stay here and clean things up. It's my mess, after all."

After a moment of thought, Punohsa nodded.

"As long as you vouch for me to Chronoa," she said as she scooped Puddin into her arms. Puddin didn't seem like she was aware of anything at all, and didn't even acknowledge who was carrying her. "Let's get you home, kid," Punohsa whispered to Puddin. She turned on her heel and walked out of the Time Nest, stepping over the unconscious Evelyn and leaving Dumplin kneeling in the middle of the mess of scattered scrolls.

After a quick flight to Dumplin and Puddin's house, Punohsa pushed through the slightly ajar door and took in the look of the house. The decorations, lights, and Christmas tree were still giving off a look of Christmas cheer, but it now seemed hollow and soulless. A large dinner sat on the dining room table, barely eaten and stone cold. A fire had been burning in the fireplace, but there were not even embers now. The ajar door had let in the chill of the earlier rainstorm, so now Punohsa swore she could see her breath in the air.

"I should probably put you to bed," she said more to herself than Puddin. As she started carrying Puddin toward the bedrooms, Puddin suddenly grabbed Punohsa's shoulder, making her stop in her tracks. "What's up, Puddin?" she asked. Puddin looked sheepish for a moment before focusing her wide eyes on Punohsa's.

"Can I stay here with you?" she begged. "I don't want to be alone." The look of heart-wrenching despair on her face alone was enough to make Punohsa instantly comply.

"Okay, Puddin," she said with a nod. "I won't leave you alone."

She lay Puddin down on the couch and draped a blanket over her, which Puddin immediately pulled around herself and cuddled up in. The next order of business was to get the fire going again to chase away the chill of the rain. Once the fire was burning, she knelt in front of Puddin and rubbed her shoulder.

"I'm gonna clean up what's left of dinner," Punohsa said. "If you need me, I'll be right over there, okay?" Puddin blinked at her for a moment before clutching the blankets closer.

"Toss it," she said weakly.

"What?"

"Throw it away. I don't want to see it again."

With a sigh, Punohsa nodded and went to her task. She stole a few bites as she threw everything away and it was actually quite good, but she understood why Puddin wouldn't have any desire for leftovers. When the dinner was cleaned up, Punohsa checked on Puddin again and found her blankly staring at the floor. It made Punohsa's heart break just to watch.

I need to find some way to cheer her up, she thought to herself. After a bit of thought, Punohsa smiled as an idea came to her. She walked into the corner of the kitchen and made a call on her scouter. It rang four times before someone finally picked up.

"What?!" snapped the male voice on the other line. She smiled.

"Hello, Paata," she said. There was a pause on the other side.

"Master Punohsa? Do you have any idea what time it is?" Paata's tone had lost its bite, but there was still a lot of confusion in it.

"I do and I'm sorry about waking you, but this really can't wait."

Something in her tone must have gotten through to him because he sounded much more awake the next time he spoke.

"What's wrong and what can I do?" Paata asked.

"Towa left the city earlier tonight, and it doesn't look like she's coming back. I'm with Puddin, but what she really needs right now is a friend. Could you possibly come over?" There was a long pause before Paata spoke again.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." With that, the connection went dead. Punohsa nodded to herself and was just turning back toward the living room when there was suddenly a knock at the door. She blinked in surprise.

"You have got to be kidding me…" she said to herself as she answered the door. Paata stood on the porch, panting hard. He looked like he'd dressed in a hurry and he carried a duffle back over his shoulder and a large thermos in his hand.

"Sorry… I took… so long," he panted, stepping into the house. "Had to… make the soup right."

Punohsa could do little more than blink at him in silence as he moved to the living room and saw Puddin curled up on the couch.

"Hey, Puddin," he said gently. Puddin turned to look at him and her face brightened a bit.

"Paata? What are you doing here?"

"I came when I heard you needed a friend," he said with a smile. He unscrewed the top of the thermos and poured some of the soup into the cap. "This is some soup I made for you. It's a family recipe. I hope you like it."

He carefully handed the soup to Puddin and she took a delicate sip. Her face brightened even more and the soup was gone in moments, leaving her holding the empty cap toward Paata while looking at him with wide, begging eyes. He chuckled before refilling her cap from the thermos. Puddin took another sip of soup, thankfully consuming it slower now, as Paata lifted the duffle bag into his lap.

"What's that?" she asked.

"I figured you'd need some cheering up and I knew this would be the best way to do it." He opened the duffle bag to show that it was completely filled with DVDs of Warrior Pegasus Princess. "So, which season do you want to start on? I've always been partial to season three."

Puddin stared at the DVDs for a moment before giving him an incredulous look.

"Really? Season three? When they were right in the middle of the network writer's strike and had only two weeks to write an entire season? It's got some of the weirdest episodes in the entire show!"

"But it also has some of my favorite episodes in the entire show, so it balances out," Paata said with a smile. Puddin arched an eyebrow before giving him a smile.

"How about we start at season two and make our way there? I wanna see the Pandemonium arc."

"Behold, the lady speaketh!" he said dramatically because he was just that dang supportive. Paata pulled out one of the DVD cases near the bottom and popped it into the player before turning on the TV.

Punohsa, not really seeing anything else to do, sat down on the other couch and made herself comfortable. By the end of the second episode, Punohsa was genuinely enjoying herself as Princess Moonbeam and her loyal knights fought to defend their kingdom.

More importantly, Puddin was looking much better than when Punohsa and Dumplin had found her. Within the first few minutes of turning on Warrior Pegasus Princess, she was already giggling at the onscreen antics and cheering during the fight scenes. The girl quickly polished off Paata's soup and had become much more animated as she interacted with Paata. It was refreshing to see her acting like her old self again.

A few more hours passed and Punohsa started to see the outer edges of dawn creeping over the horizon. She frowned at the time display on her scouter. Sure, the Time Nest had been left in a state of disarray, but Dumplin couldn't be taking that long to clean things up, right? Humming to herself in thought, Punohsa stood up, getting the attention of the two young adults.

"Paata, I need to ask you to stay here with Puddin for a little longer. I'm going to go see what's taking Dumplin so long. Send me a message if either of you two needs anything."

"Okay, Master Punohsa," Paata said with a nod.

"I hope you find Daddy," Puddin said.

Punohsa smiled at the two of them before she let herself out of the house. At the end of the path through the yard, she took to the air and flew toward the Time Nest.

When she arrived, she was actually quite confused to find the Time Nest spotless, but empty save for a dozing Frost Demon who was on Monitor Duty. There was no sign of Dumplin at all. She flew to the top of Recreation Plaza and looked out over the city. The city was only just now beginning to stir, and even that was lessened with the likely high number of hangovers that were going to make up the coming morning. Still, there was no sign of Dumplin's signature neon color scheme. Punohsa stood there and pondered for a few moments. She had gone out on a few missions with Dumplin in the past, but she hadn't really sat down with him in a long time. Not since she decided to become an instructor instead of an active Time Patroller, anyway. Her thoughts turned back to the times that she, Dumplin, and a few other Majin Time Patrollers would get together to drink, talk, and have some fun.

She blinked. She now had a good idea where Dumplin was.

Flying to the Mushroom Forest to the North of Conton City, she found a small establishment tucked away under a particularly wide mushroom. It had a few flickering signs that proudly declared it to be Lirran's Place and had the bar's motto in smaller neons.

We live, we die, we drink again.

Punohsa stepped through the door, ringing the little bell as she did. The place was mostly deserted, with no one there to enjoy the quiet jazz flowing out of the old jukebox. A Namekian bartender was cleaning glasses behind the bar and gave her a polite nod as she walked in.

Punohsa sighed when she saw the object of her search hunched over the bar, three empty bottles of whiskey in front of him and a glass in his hand. She crossed to the bar and sat down next to the Demon God before leveling a scathing glare at him. Dumplin didn't even acknowledge her as he took a drink from his glass.

"I thought I told you to look after my daughter," he growled as he lowered the glass again.

"She's fine. She's spending time with Paata right now. They're watching cartoons." A hint of wistfulness crossed Dumplin's face.

"Paata's a good kid," he said before drinking again. Punohsa nodded.

"He is. He's decided that the best use of his time would be to help raise the spirits of a person he cared about, unlike you." She saw Dumplin's fingers tighten around the glass.

"You won't even let me mourn?" he asked, glaring at the wall behind the bar. Punohsa rolled her eyes before pointing at the three empty bottles.

"I think you've mourned enough for one night, Dumplin. Besides, I thought you gave up drinking when you decided to be a family man."

"And look where that fucking got me!" he snapped, slamming his glass on the countertop. "My wife just left me, for fuck's sake!"

"Yes," she drawled. "Your wife who happened to be a maniacal demon scientist who you've had to stop from destroying the universe once already." Her eyes narrowed. "Cry me a river." Dumplin sat up straight for a few more moments before he slumped forward again.

"…I loved her," he almost whined. Punohsa's expression softened and she patted his shoulder.

"I know you did, Dumplin, but you can't forget the rest of the world right now. Yes, you just lost your wife, but Puddin just lost her mother. She needs you right now. She needs her father. And if you really must mourn, then you should mourn together, because shutting yourself away from her and drinking yourself into a stupor is not going to solve anything for anyone." She took a breath and saw that Dumplin was finally looking at her. "You have a daughter that thinks the world of you. She sees you as her hero. You need to go home and be her hero."

The bar was silent. The jukebox had gone quiet, as if it had recognized the gravity of what she was saying. Even the bartender had stopped polishing the glasses and was trying very hard to look like he wasn't listening.

"C'mon, Dumplin," Punohsa said softly. "You're the Demon God. It's time to stand up and let the world know that this won't knock you down."

Finally, Dumplin sighed and nodded before putting down his glass and getting down from his stool. He tossed a few extra bills on the countertop before both he and Punohsa walked out of the bar.

"I can fly home on my own," he said quietly. "You should go home and get some sleep." Punohsa nodded.

"Do you know what to say to her?" she asked.

"I've got a good idea," he answered with a nod.

"Then good luck," she said, giving him a smile. "We should get together again sometime. It's been way too long since we've talked."

"Yeah… yeah, that sounds good," Dumplin said with a nod. With that, they both took off and flew toward their homes.

Dumplin quietly opened the front door of his house to see Paata and Puddin together on the couch watching the ending of an episode of Warrior Pegasus Princess. At the sound he made, they both spun to face him. Puddin's face immediately brightened as she caught sight of him.

"Daddy!" she cried happily, vaulting over the couch and running up to give him a hug. He wrapped his arms around and squeezed her tight, trying to convey without words how much he loved her.

When they stepped away from each other, Dumplin smiled at Paata.

"Thanks for looking after her, Paata. I owe you one."

"No problem, Dumplin," Paata said with a smile. "Happy to do it."

Dumplin nodded and gave Paata a look, trying to give him the message that he wanted to talk to Puddin alone. Paata apparently got the message because he nodded to him and collected the things he had arrived with.

"I should probably be heading home now," he said, stopping to give Puddin a tight hug. "I'll see you tomorrow, Puddin, but don't hesitate for a moment if you need my help with something, okay?"

"Okay," she said with a small smile as she returned the hug.

Paata gave them one last wave goodbye before leaving out the front door. Dumplin and Puddin both gravitated toward the couch and sat next to each other while holding hands.

"I'm sorry, Puddin," Dumplin started. "I should have been here to comfort and take care of you, but I ran off instead. I'm so sorry."

"I… I know," she said, rubbing his shoulder. Her face looked pained, but she was trying to smile at him. "And it's okay. Really."

"No, it's not. Really," Dumplin responded. "You're my daughter. You come first and I should know better than to just assume I'm the only person hurting." He sighed. "This was a really shitty Christmas."

"Yeah, I guess so," Puddin said with a nod. They sat in silence for a very long time.

"Y'know something, Puddin?" Dumplin began. "I've spent the last few hours wondering to myself about what to do now, and I still don't know. For the longest time, just being with you and Towa was my dream, but I'm not quite sure what to do now."

"Well," Puddin said, giving her father a small smile, "It's like one of those Earthling quotes I heard. 'When one door closes, try breaking down another'. We can make some new dreams for ourselves." Her smile widened. "I'll start, okay? Mine is to become a Master-class Time Patroller and to be the strongest fighter ever." She gently elbowed him in the side. "I'm gonna end up being a better Time Patroller than you someday."

"Heh. Keep dreaming, sweetie," he said with a chuckle. Puddin stuck her tongue out at him.

"What about yours?" she asked.

"To be a good father to you," he said before Puddin flicked his forehead. "Ow," he said, rubbing the spot on his head. Puddin was giving him an unamused glare.

"That's a cop-out, Daddy," she said. "What is your dream? What do you want to happen for yourself?"

Dumplin looked at the wall and thought back on his life. He remembered the times before being a part of the Time Patrol and his early days as one of their members. When he had his answer, he smiled. Puddin noticed.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The same dream I had when I first came to this time," he said. "My dream, Puddin, is to be standing there amongst this world as it burns, the smell of ash and death in the air, on a mountain of broken bodies." His smile turned evil, with shadows seeming to instinctively crawl down to shroud his face. "And the true payoff is the look on the survivors' faces when they finally realize that their hero, their savior, has been working against them the entire time."

And like that, he was back to normal. Puddin blinked at her father for a few moments.

"That's… dark," she said before a smile spread across her face. "But it also sounds amazing. I like it."

Dumplin smiled back and held her close. The coming days would be hard for them, and it was unknown what the future would bring, but Dumplin was quite sure of one thing…

Whatever happened, they would face it together.