N/A: This chapter will be longer.
Chapter 11: Friendly Date
The next day, in the middle of the afternoon, Diddy had decided to ask Dixie to hang out after listening to Donkey's advice. Obviously, he was very nervous, as he had never asked a girl out; he had always witnessed the things Donkey did for Candy since they started dating, but he never thought that later he could be in such a situation. Anyway, he was a little reassured to know that it would only be a friendly walk like any other.
"Very well, little buddy, remember all the advice, don't get nervous and act natural," Donkey advised him when Diddy was about to leave the house. "And above all, make sure you make her smile and treat her well."
"Okay... Thank you, Donkey," Diddy replied, smiling nervously and scratching his head. "But one question... And where can I invite her?"
"Wherever you want, there are many options," Donkey replied, patting him lightly on the back. "It's just an outing of friends, it's for you to spend some time together as you have already done."
"W-well... Let's see what I can come up with," Diddy replied with a few small laughs.
"Well, now go, little buddy," Donkey said, patting him on the head again. "Good luck."
Then, Diddy came down from the house and started heading towards his friends' house. Truth be told, he was a little nervous; while he had already gone to see Dixie at her house, he had never hung out alone with her. Still, deep down he did hope to make it.
Diddy arrived at Dixie's house and knocked on the door... By the way, Dixie also planned to ask him out, although not at that precise moment.
The door opened, and Diddy could clearly feel all the nerves running through him suddenly that he almost forgot what he had to say to Dixie.
"Diddy!" she exclaimed, showing surprise at his unexpected visit.
"H-hi, Dixie! How are you?" Diddy said, trying to act natural.
"Very well. And what are you doing around here?" she asked him curiously.
"Well…" Diddy was starting to get nervous again, but he was trying to hold on. "It's just... I wanted to ask you something."
Hearing that, Dixie remembered what her sister and cousins told her, so she thought thatmight be a good time... Even the same idea crossed her mind.
"Uhh... Hey, Diddy, since you're here... I was going to tell you something too," she said with a somewhat nervous smile as well.
At the same time, Diddy was also astonished at what Dixie had just said.
"Really?" Diddy replied with a curious look. "Well... Tell me first."
"You see, it's that I…" Dixie pronounced, looking away. "Uh, what if you tell me first?"
"Uhh, well, I was going to ask you if…" Diddy began to stutter a little, but he was still struggling to look confident, "If you wanted to go somewhere today."
Instantly, Dixie was surprised to see that it was the same, but still, she tried to hide it.
"Just you and me?" Dixie asked on impulse, but then realized what she said. "Oh, I mean... really?" she added with a forced smile.
"Yes, that... Of course, if you want," Diddy replied with the same expression. "And what were you going to tell me, by the way?"
Dixie looked away quickly as she thought about whether to tell him it was the same or make up another excuse... Still, they didn't want to create the expectation that they meant the same thing about dating.
"Well, the truth is... I was going to tell you the same thing," Dixie told him, trying to smile normally. "If we can go somewhere, of course, if you want too."
Diddy felt a slight quickening in his heartbeat upon hearing that; he couldn't imagine that coincidence. But anyway, he didn't want to create great expectations at that time either.
"Ahh, really?" Diddy stuttered a little. "Hey, it must have been a coincidence," he added more confidently.
"Yes... it's true," Dixie replied with a small laugh. "And well... where do you want to go?" she asked, trying not to generate more tension.
"Well... Uhh... I don't know... My house?" Diddy suggested without knowing which place to really choose, but then he realized that he should not have answered like that.
"I want to go!" Tiny, Kiddy and Chunky suddenly appeared.
"Hey, what were you doing here?!" Dixie asked them, looking at them strangely.
Apparently, the three kongs had been keeping an eye on Dixie's interaction with Diddy.
"Oh, hi. How are you, friends?" Diddy said, greeting the three of them.
"How so around here, Diddy?" Tiny said with emotion. "Are you going to your house? We want to go too."
"Yes, we've never been to your house, Diddy," Chunky added likewise. "Let's go, we want to go!"
"W-Well, but it is that…" Diddy stammered at the unforeseen.
"Please! We want to know your house," Tiny insisted with a look of pleading.
"Come on!" Kiddy added the same look.
At first, Diddy felt somewhat clumsy that he had mentioned his house as the destination of an outing with Dixie and, secondly, he didn't know how to tell the other three that he was only hanging out specifically with Dixie without them going to interpret it in another way.
"Well... Okay, okay," Diddy replied, smiling with some insecurity when he saw that the plan was not going as expected. "Right now, I'll take you. Let's go."
"Yeah!" exclaimed Tiny, Kiddy and Chunky... except for Dixie, who only smiled forcibly when she also saw that it was not what she had planned in mind.
Diddy entered his house later with a sneaky expression of frustration, not knowing what to do now and with his four friends accompanying him. Donkey, seeing him arrive, was surprised that his little nephew had returned so soon.
"Diddy! What happened?" Donkey asked, getting up from the couch. "How did it go?"
"Well, you'll see…" Diddy replied with a forced smile and scratching his head. "Let's say-"
"Wow, is this your house?!" Chunky exclaimed, appearing with the other three kongs inside the house.
"Hi, Donkey!" said the four young kongs.
"Say what?" Donkey whispered in shock at the visitor, but concealed it anyway. "Oh, hi, kids! How so around here?"
"Diddy invited us here," Tiny replied smiling. "He said he wanted to bring us to his house."
"Tiny," Dixie whispered, elbowing her lightly.
"Oh, how friendly my little nephew is!" Donkey said with a forced smile and looking sideways at Diddy. "And well, no problem, you are welcome here."
"Wow, your house is great," Chunky said, looking in amazement. "Chunky likes it."
"Oh, I thank you," Donkey replied, smiling as he made his way to Diddy. "Well, and I'm sorry to interrupt you, but can you wait a moment?... Hey, Diddy, could you come over for a while to help me with something?" he added, winking with some seriousness.
"Uh, yes, okay," Diddy replied, imagining that Donkey had already noticed the failed plan. "I'll be right back, friends."
Donkey took Diddy to his room to ask him what the whole situation was that had been put together at that moment.
"Can you tell what you did? It was just the two of you that were supposed to go out."
"You see, I didn't know which place to choose," Diddy said with a shrug, "so, I said 'my house' and the other three listened. I couldn't tell them no, then I would give myself away."
On the other hand, Dixie also talked to her sister and cousins… as she was also frustrated at the ill-fated initial plan.
"Hey, this was supposed to be the outing with Diddy," Dixie exclaimed quietly.
"What? Seriously now?" Tiny asked in confusion. "And why didn't you tell us before?"
"Didn't we tell you to tell him at school?" Chunky whispered, frowning.
"Yes, but he came to our house unexpectedly and I couldn't pass up the opportunity, and you guys went out!" Dixie replied with a slap on the forehead.
Meanwhile, on Donkey and Diddy's side...
"Look, this is what we're going to do," Donkey said to Diddy. "You go talk to Dixie and invite her again, and meanwhile, I distract the other three until they forget about her."
On Dixie and her family's side...
"You invite Diddy again," Tiny proposed to her sister. "And then, we'll distract Donkey until he forgets about Diddy."
Then, Donkey and Diddy left the room. Donkey sneaked signals to Diddy, while the other young kongs gave Dixie signals.
"Hey, Donkey," Chunky took the first step to try to distract Donkey. "Uhh, what does a gorilla say to an orangut-"
"Hey, little friends, do you know why a coconut has water inside?" Donkey hastened to say to distract them too.
Both groups began asking questions or mentioning meaningless data, in order to divert attention.
For their part, Diddy and Dixie went as planned and met again the two of them.
"Uhh, hey, Dixie," Diddy said with a little of nerves. "By chance... Do you want to go outside for a while?"
"I was going to tell you the same... Uh, I meant, of course, let's go!" Dixie replied in kind.
Donkey stayed with the other three young kongs, where everyone was trying to distract themselves, so Diddy and Dixie could hang out in peace. According to them, none of them realized that their plan was going well this time.
On the other side, both little kongs went out, got down from the treehouse and started walking aimlessly. At first, they didn't know what to say on the way, but then they were talking and joking for a long time until communication became normal.
"And why is it that a coconut has water inside?" Dixie asked with a small laugh.
"Do you remember Wrinkly's lecture on nutrient uptake in plants?"
"Wow, it makes more sense. I thought it was because of the rain."
"How is the water going to enter like this?" Diddy said the same way.
Both of them continued to walk aimlessly. Diddy felt at ease around Dixie's side and, apparently, he didn't feel so nervous anymore after continuing to engage in conversation. However, he didn't yet know where to take her, but they both enjoyed each other's company anyway.
Later, they had grown tired of walking, so they went to sit under a tree on a hill. Apparently, the plan was already going well as they wanted at first.
"It's a pretty quiet place here," Dixie said, smiling and looking out at the surroundings.
"That's true," Diddy replied, now thinking about what to talk about with Dixie. Suddenly, it occurred to him to ask her something. "Hey, Dixie... and... what do you like to do frequently? I mean, when there's nothing else to do."
"Me? Well... It's been a long time since I have been able to dedicate myself to the things I like, but... I used to play guitar since I was a little child and I loved to do it almost daily. Even so, I hope to be able to resume it soon."
"Wow, I always wanted to learn to play guitar," Diddy said. "That is, it's not that I want so much, but it has caught my attention."
"It's quite complex at first, but with a lot of practice you can get used to it," Dixie replied smiling. "And what do you like to do? Do you also like music?"
"Absolutely. In fact, almost everyone here likes it. I, on the other hand, really like to sing or play the bongos. Oh, and above all, I like racing cars too; someday I would like to be in a competition... And what else do you like?"
"Well... the bubblegums, I guess," she replied with a small laugh. "I also like crabs and lobsters."
"To eat them?" Diddy exclaimed, looking at her with some oddity.
"Oh, no, of course not," Dixie replied, smiling with a look of strangeness. "It's just that I find them super adorable; someday I would like to adopt one... Hey, and you really like adventures, right?"
"I love them, especially those that are to look for some treasure or recover something, such as the banana reserve. Do you also like adventures?"
"Of course, I love adventures, even if they are also tiring, and as long as we are not with our lives at risk, of course."
"Wow, now I see how you could fight against those fools at school. You know how to defend yourself very well, how did you learn?"
"That's how I told you: my parents and uncles taught me some defense techniques... Even... as a result of what happened to them, I had to learn to apply them more."
"They've been able to do it very well from what I see," Diddy said, smiling with admiration. "Hey, and... Can I ask you... what happened to your parents?"
Dixie, after having a smile on her face, immediately got a sad expression at Diddy's sudden question.
"Oh, no. Sorry, Dixie... I shouldn't have asked you that," he said quickly, apologizing for the imprudence in noticing it. "That is, sometimes I forget for a moment that I shouldn't ask you something-"
"No, don't apologize," Dixie said with a short, weak smile, before turning serious. "I can tell you if you want... You must have had that doubt since we came to this island, right?"
"Are you sure?" Diddy asked with some insecurity.
"Yes, but you'll see... it's a long story," Dixie replied with absolute seriousness.
"Okay, if you say so. I'll listen to you…"
Dixie got ready to tell her story, which was not happy at all, and was shown as if she was trying to be as strong as she could to speak it.
"Well…" Dixie said with a lowered gaze. "We were a happy family: Chunky and Kiddy's family with mine and Tiny were always very close. On weekends we used to go for walks all together."
...
On a day like any other, we went for a walk near a cliff. It was a family picnic day... Although today I wish that day had never happened.
"Ahh, nothing like a nice family day," said Dixie's father as the family was sharing and preparing various things.
"And above all, how nice it's to have a new member in the family," added Chunky's father in reference to Kiddy, who was only a short time old.
"Can we play with him, auntie?" Tiny and Dixie asked Chunky and Kiddy's mother.
"Not yet, little ones, wait until he grows up," she replied, smiling at them as she held Kiddy.
Then Tiny and I went to another corner nearby. We were quietly playing both... When suddenly, a type of car arrived where five strangers were on board. I had never seen ones of that species in our territory: they were people and they were dressed in colorful costumes as if they were partying. Then, they got off and approached us.
"Look, they're two cute little chimpanzees," one of these men said cheerfully before pulling out some candy for Dixie and Tiny. "Do you want candies, little ones?"
We stared at them strangely for a few seconds, but in our naivety at the time, we took those sweets they offered us.
"Who are these ones?" Tiny asked in a kong language, which the men didn't understand.
"I don't know, but... they look friendly, I think," Dixie replied calmly.
"We want to be your friends," the human men told them before handing them more things. "We have brought food and gifts for you. Have it, little ones!"
They took some toys out of the car and gave them to Tiny and me. Then, they gave us a bunch of fruits to eat, and later, they brought out party balloons for us.
They spent some time playing with us, took pictures of us and kept giving us more food. Apparently, they just wanted to meet us, even though they didn't speak our language.
Everything was going well until... suddenly, they took us all together and forcibly locked us both in a cage.
"HELP!" heartbreaking screams were heard from Dixie and Tiny, which reached the ears of the adult apes in the family.
Those cursed ones caught Tiny and me and put us in the car. Chunky and his parents came to try to help us, but those men threw a liquid at them that immediately knocked them to the ground, and then they took Kiddy too and locked him up with us.
"CHILDREN!" Dixie's parents exclaimed as they began to sprint after the little kongs. They were still standing. "FEAR NOT, WE ARE COMING FOR YOU!"
Then the car accelerated, and those hunters were taking us while our parents ran for us, until they managed to get into the car to try to rescue us. The road was very dangerous, as next to it there was a huge abyss.
"Don't worry, kids, here we are!" Dixie's mother exclaimed, struggling with the cage where Dixie, Tiny and Kiddy were being carried.
"Oh, blast! We don't spray those apes with sedatives!" the driver of the car exclaimed when he noticed the presence of the adult apes in the car. "And we don't have any more!"
"I'll take care of it!" said another of the men pulling out a gun.
The man leaned out of the car window and pointed at Dixie and Tiny's parents and, before long... he pressed the trigger.
Dixie's parents rolled on the floor, but luckily, they had managed to lower the cage of the car where the kong children were locked. Both apes had been badly wounded by the gunfire, but they were trying to stay strong. Dixie and Tiny managed to get out of the cage and tried to lift Kiddy, while their parents were a long distance from them.
The hunting men, losing the little prisoners, stopped. But immediately, they turned around in the car and sped up to pick them up again. Dixie's father, with a lot of weakness, but at the same time with some strength, refused to allow his daughters and nephew to be taken, so he tried to gather strength and headed towards the car that was coming in the direction of the children.
Dixie's father got into the car and entered the cockpit to take the wheel and try to divert them. The human men tried to push him away, but he resisted. Finally, Dixie's father managed to send the car with the men on board into the abyss on the sides, but unfortunately... he also fell with them.
"Nooo!" Dixie and Tiny shouted in extreme despair after seeing the event.
Tiny stayed with Kiddy and Mom who was very badly injured, while I ran to where Chunky was with my aunt and uncle, but they were still asleep.
"Chunky, Chunky, wake up, help me, please!"Dixie exclaimed too desperately as she moved Chunky hard. "Auntie, uncle, please wake up!"
"What... What... Happened?" Chunky asked weakly and confused.
"You have to come, those people wanted to take us, they shot Mom, and Dad fell down with them!" Dixie said, all desperate and wishing it was all a nightmare, while several tears were coming out of her eyes.
"NO! It can't be!" Chunky exclaimed, reacting all in horror.
Chunky and Dixie proceeded to go for Dixie's father. They went down a long way to the exact spot where the now-crashed car was, so they could help Dixie's father.
At the scene of the accident, there was the destroyed car of the hunters. In the distance, the group of those human ones could be seen: two of them were unharmed; another of them appeared to have severely injured his leg; while the remaining two were motionless in their entirety.
We managed to rescue Dad at that time, he was more injured than he already was and we took him home along with Mom.
At night some medical apes tried to save them, but... it was too late, and... we only had to see them close their eyes for the last time... I could barely say goodbye to them at the end...
...
"And that's what happened," Dixie finished with tears in her eyes and trying to dry them. That was a very difficult story for her to tell; she still remembered everything clearly and it hurt her too much. That was one of the hardest events she had ever experienced.
Diddy couldn't help but feel very sorry for Dixie, he was even starting to feel somewhat guilty for having made her remember all that tragedy.
"And that's not all," Dixie said, trying to calm herself still with tears in her eyes. "My aunt and uncle... then also…"
"Oh, no, Dixie," Diddy said, trying to reassure her. "If you want not to-"
"No, I can tell you. In fact, this time they were... those evil apes who were chasing us when we got here…"
"Oh, no. And what did they do?" Diddy asked, looking worried.
"Well," Dixie began to tell, her eyes moistened. "After my parents were no longer with us, my aunt and uncle, Chunky and Kiddy's parents, adopted Tiny and me as their daughters…"
...
They were like our second parents; they were just as attentive to us and we came to love them too much. And of course, Chunky and Kiddy became like our brothers. Things were a little better again, even if it wasn't the same for both of us.
Until that other terrible day came. We were all in our house: my aunt, my uncle, my cousins, my sister and I when someone broke down the door; they were those apes!
"No one moves!" a group of mandrills and orangutans appeared, all with guns in hand.
"Say what?!"Chunky's father exclaimed, frightened instantly."Who are you?!"
Those apes, without answering us, shot a kind of darts at us, and suddenly we fell to the ground without being able to move. Then they kidnapped us, and outside the house we saw a bunch of other apes who were kidnapping whole families.
They took us in some boats to another island, in which... those apes had an organization that captured animals of different species. When we got there, they took us into a very strange building and locked us in a cell, where on the sides there were more animals locked up in piles like in a prison. They had us there for a long time where sometimes they left us whole days without eating.
Those apes were an army of different races, but the leaders were five: the three mandrills and two orangutans, they shot mercilessly at anyone who tried to escape from there and committed horrible atrocities. Every so often, they randomly picked a group of imprisoned animals and exterminated them! Even... there were rumors that they experimented on them and took them somewhere else, although we never knew where or why they did all that, they also took live animals sometimes. And when they returned from their travels, they always came back with new animals to lock them up.
Until one day, when one of the apes was going to give us food through the bars of the cell, Chunky's father imprisoned him against the bars and managed to take his keys, and then we left... and we released the rest of the animals. The adult prisoners took the weapons of the apes and clashed against that entire organization. The little ones were only left in a room until everything passed, in order to protect us.
The conflict lasted until the whole army was wiped out, and when it was over, we got back together with my aunt and uncle, and all the prisoners were going to escape.
We all headed towards the water's edge, put together some fast boats and some animals managed to escape, but... we didn't reach.
Unfortunately, the leading apes had been unharmed and appeared to us by surprise. They were very furious that we had released their entire herd of victims, and then, with weapons in hand, they took us back to the building to exterminate us.
They had us all tied up, but the apes were still preparing their extermination teams. In their carelessness, Chunky's parents were strong enough to untie themselves and then untied us. We ran away immediately, although the apes managed to see us and went after us.
"DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!" exclaimed one of the mandrills, and the rest of the evil apes began to chase them.
We ran through almost the entire building as fast as possible, until we found a shortcut where only the little ones could fit.
"Kids, over here, hurry up!" Chunky and Kiddy's mother exclaimed. "Enter here!"
The shortcut was a small long-running pipeline. The evil apes were nowhere in sight, so Dixie, Tiny and Kiddy went into the tunnel so they could hide.
"Try to get out here, kids!" Chunky and Kiddy's father told them. "At the end of this pipeline they will be able to leave this place completely."
"But what about you?" Dixie asked, worried about her aunt, uncle and Chunky.
"We'll walk out the front door, we'll meet outside," Chunky's mother replied. "Now save yourselves, please!"
"THERE THEY ARE!" the evil apes appeared and began to go after them.
"Hurry up, children, run to the exit!" Chunky's father whispered quickly before continuing to flee with his wife and son Chunky.
And that... was the last time we saw them.
Tiny, Kiddy and I did as we were told, we moved all over the pipeline until we reached the end and left the building. Immediately, we went to hide among the trees and waited for my aunt, uncle and Chunky to come out... When suddenly, we only heard a few shots inside the building. We were very scared and worried, until we saw the front door open, we saw Chunky leave and he met us again but... he just burst into tears and, from the desperate way he spoke to us, we knew what had happened.
Then we escaped and,to our bad luck, those apes found us and started chasing us. We reached the sea and swam to another island as fast as we could. But those apes didn't want to give up;they were chasing us for a long time and we just had to be very attentive and know how to hide. We went from island to island looking for somewhere safe... And that's how we survived for a few months...
...
"And that's it..." said Dixie, who at the end, could not help but shed her tears and burst into tears, trying to continue. "I've tried to be strong... But I would do anything to see them all again... and be all together in the family."
"Oh, Dixie," Diddy placed a hand on her shoulder; even he felt a slight urge to cry upon hearing those sad stories. He didn't know the cruel reality that Dixie, Tiny, Kiddy and Chunky had experienced. "I'm really sorry, Dixie... I didn't want you to remember all that and-"
"It's okay," Dixie added, trying to calm down and wipe away tears. "Anyway, you had to know to see how we got to this island."
"No, no, seriously, excuse me, I think I was very reckless," Diddy insisted, still trying to calm Dixie before there was a moment of silence. "Do you want me to give you a hug?"
Dixie, with her gaze lowered and tears welling up in her eyes, nodded. Then, Diddy hugged her for a few seconds. He felt terrible to have asked her that at first, because he never wanted to remind her of something as terrible as what she had just told. Seconds later, the two broke away from the embrace and stood for a while in silence as Dixie finished wiping away tears.
"And well, then... did those apes continue to follow you?" Diddy asked with some insecurity.
"Yes, on no island did we find peace and we had to survive. And if it wasn't those cursed apes, we also had to run away from cannibal apes that came our way. Do you remember Chunky mentioned cannibals, right?"
"I see... And then, how did you land here?"
"On the last island we were on, we couldn't escape anymore and we were caught by the three mandrills, but luckily we made it later, and we used their cannons to make them lose sight of us. We launched aimlessly... And that's how we got here," she concluded, wiping away tears.
"Wow... now I understand everything," Diddy added in a low tone.
"And the rest you know, then they caught us and were going to shoot us, but you defeated them," Dixie added, smiling a little. "You finished saving us, Diddy."
Diddy, seeing Dixie smile even a little, returned the same gesture. After all, he realized that, in the midst of all that tragedy, he had been a luck for the four of them to save them from a powerful and dangerous group of cruel apes.
"You know," Diddy later told her, "Donkey told me that when someone leaves forever, wherever they went, they could still be taking care of their living loved ones. Well... it's true that you will no longer be able to see it, but... someones say you can feel it through anything nice that happens to you."
"Do you think so?" Dixie asked, her eyes still lowered.
"Well, it's... what Donkey has said to me, perhaps to comfort me when I've also been sad about what happened to my parents."
Dixie couldn't say anything more, and only stood for a few seconds pondering what Diddy had just said.
"Diddy…" Dixie suddenly tried to ask him the same question as well. "You don't have your parents either, do you?"
"Well…" Diddy replied with a low look.
"Oh, I'm sorry, if you don't want-" Dixie, likewise, didn't mean to be reckless either.
"No, don't worry; if you told me your story, I could tell you mine too... Although I don't remember it very well; I was very young. Donkey told me that at that time there was a war between kremlings and kongs, and well... my parents were victims of that," Diddy said before looking down with tears in his eyes. "I remember when I was a little child, I wanted to see my parents again and I asked Donkey a lot about them. In my innocence, I thought that they had only gone for a walk to hide from those kremlings and that they would soon return home... Until when I got a little older, Donkey told me the whole truth... It was terrible for me, and I spent several months not wanting to do anything, while Donkey tried to cope with the situation with me."
In the same way, Dixie took great pity on Diddy. Her case had been very tragic, but to hear that Diddy didn't live so long with his parents and didn't know of their whereabouts until later, was something she could not imagine.
"Oh, no. Really, I'm so sorry too, Diddy," Dixie replied, putting her hand on Diddy's shoulder. "And then, that's when Donkey adopted you, right?"
"Yes, he has been like a father to me, although many times like an older brother."
"Well, you can see that he has been a good figure for you, I see that he loves you very much and cares about you."
"You're right, Donkey is great," Diddy said again, smiling a little, but then sighed and looked serious. "Even so... I've always wondered... what would it be like if my parents lived? What would it be like to have the whole family and have seen them for so much longer?"
"Having them was a wonderful thing, it was wonderful for me," Dixie said, before lowering her head sadly. "But... I don't know why all that had to happen, and I feel like... nothing was ever the same from there."
"I know... It's horrible," Diddy added in the same way. "And it's still terrible to remember when Donkey told me that."
Both were left with the same muffled expressions while each finished processing their bad memories of those terrible experiences they had had.
"But still," Dixie said later, "since we came to this island, I think... we smiled again... even a little," she added with a small smile.
Diddy continued to look at her in a pity way for a couple of seconds, although he felt somewhat better with those last words of Dixie.
"That sounds good, after all that you told me," he replied, smiling a little. "By the way, in your case, is Chunky the one who takes care of you?"
"Actually, I've had to be like the older sister of all of them; Chunky is sometimes a little immature and nervous," Dixie replied with a small smile.
There was another moment of silence as Diddy looked at Dixie. He felt very sorry for her stories, as he didn't imagine that they would be so tragic. He didn't like to see her sad at all although he also felt that way after remembering his own situation. Suddenly, he remembered the plan they were in and what Donkey advised him for the date: make her smile; after all, it had started as a happy date, so he decided to cheer her up a bit.
"Uhh, Dixie... Do you want to go for a walk somewhere nearby? There is a place that you will surely like... Do you feel good to go now?"
"Oh, why not? Come on, it would be fun," Dixie replied again, smiling a little more. "Uhh, but, Diddy…"
"Yeah?"
"Haven't the wounds in your eye and head healed yet?" she asked, pointing to Diddy who, by the way, still occasionally carried the bandages of the last beatings he had had.
"I don't know, they don't seem to hurt anymore," he said, putting his hand to his temple.
"Let me take them off for you."
Dixie removed Diddy's bandages and put his cap back on. In short, he was healed and finally his two eyes could be seen. Dixie stared at him for a few seconds, and then gave a few small laughs.
"What?" Diddy asked in confusion.
"Uh, nothing... Let's go! I want to know that place," Dixie replied, trying not to blush after looking at Diddy.
The pair of little kongs headed towards the place that Diddy wanted to show Dixie. They climbed to the top of a cliff, from where it could see a river with waterfalls and, apart from that, it had a rushing descent in the form of a slide where water ran down into the huge river. It was a perfect place with a nice view so that some little apes could recreate.
"It's impressive!" Dixie said, fascinated with the scenery. "It seems that we had never come here."
"Come, do you want to go down here?" Diddy said, heading down the slide-like descent.
"Uh, are you sure this is heading towards the river?" Dixie replied, hesitantly on the verge of the descent.
"Of course, let's go!" Diddy reaffirmed, taking her arm. "It's fun, just throw yourself."
Diddy, not giving Dixie any more time to think, pushed her down the slide.
"Diddy!" Dixie shouted as she descended.
Then, Diddy launched as well. There was a great height from the end of the descent to the surface of the river, so Dixie turned her hair to descend slowly, but Diddy, reaching her, took her arm and they both fell quickly into the river.
"Why did you do that?!" Dixie exclaimed annoyedly as she came to the surface of the water.
"Did you see? I told you it was going to be a lot of fun," Diddy replied with a laugh. Then, Dixie splashed water on his face. "Woah! It seems that someone got angry."
Diddy followed the game and both began to splash water and play under it while laughing.
Later, both surfaced and ran to another cliff, where this time, there was an aerial transporter made of lianas and wood that moved over the wide river at high altitude.
"We had built this with Funky," Diddy said, pointing to the conveyor. "Come, let's get on!"
Then, both kongs got on and the transporter started working. From the height, they could see the river and the whole landscape. Dixie kept admiring the whole environment where they were.
"Hey, what if we jump in from here?" Diddy suggested playfully, pointing down.
"You're crazy!" Dixie exclaimed.
"Come on!" he said as took her by the arm, about to throw her again. "It's going to be very fun-"
But this time, Dixie took his other arm and pushed him first into the river and, after letting out a few laughs at the play she made of him, she also jumped in. They both fell and, this time, Dixie was laughing while now Diddy was looking at her in annoyance.
"I call that: revenge," Dixie said in a mischievous tone as she looked at Diddy's defeated face.
Then Diddy smiled playfully at her and they started playing and splashing in the water again… But they were so distracted that they didn't realize the current was directing them toward a waterfall.
"Uh, hey, Diddy... did you see that?" Dixie pointed toward the high abyss of the waterfall.
"Oh, no! Let's get out, fast!" Diddy exclaimed, taking Dixie's arm.
The Kongs tried to swim towards the shore, but the current was very strong and it was difficult for them to move well. They didn't reach and, seconds later, the waterfall dragged them and took them away. They both fell through the entire waterfall while screaming in despair. When they fell, they immediately swam under the water towards the shore until they managed to get out, all exhausted and at the same time happy to stay unscathed.
"Why didn't you use your hair to fall out?" Diddy asked, exhausted.
"Because this time I wanted to feel the adrenaline," Dixie replied cheerfully.
"Well, do you see that tall tree over there?" Diddy pointed out.
"Yes, why?"
"Well, you don't win me to get there!" he replied defiantly, before running to the appointed place.
Then, both began to compete to see who arrived faster. Along the way, they were playing and pushing each other, but laughing at the same time.
Finally, both of them were already tired, so they went to sit on the grass. The day was almost dark.
"That was... great!" Dixie exclaimed, looking tired, but cheerful at the same time. "This place was great."
"I knew you'd like it, Dixie," Diddy replied in the same tone.
"Hey, Diddy... I really appreciate it," she said with a small smile. "I think you've cheered me up a little... after remembering all that."
"It's okay, Dixie... I didn't want to see you sad," Diddy replied, smiling back.
Dixie had felt so much better, and much more with those words of Diddy and having spent a pleasant time with him.
"You know?" Dixie added. "These days have been the best after so long. My sister, cousins and I feel great on this island; it's as if we've really lived again in spite of everything. And all the other kongs were very kind to us, especially you; we consider you a great friend."
"Oh, it's nothing, I consider you very good friends too," Diddy replied, smiling at her. "And you know, we're with you all when you need us."
"The coolest thing about all of you, apart from being nice, is that you are very close," Dixie commented. "I really admire that about you. And besides you all are cheerful and very funny."
"Well, if you say cheerful and funny, just don't include Cranky in that category," Diddy joked, earning a few laughs from her.
"Hey, and do you have any friends other than the kongs on this island?" Dixie asked.
"Yes, I have other friends, but they live a little far from here. One of them is named Timber; he's one of my best friends. Do you also have more friends?"
"Yes, I had a few on the island where I lived... Although I doubt I will ever see them again."
There was a while of silence as they continued to rest. The atmosphere was quite quiet, which was complemented by the company of both... There was a moment where Diddy was looking sideways at Dixie, which she noticed and turned to look at him as well. Diddy was overcome with nerves at the eye contact and tried to return to a normal posture.
"Uhh... do you want to leave or not?" Diddy said, smiling with nerves still invading him.
"I don't think so... The sunset looks nice," Dixie replied serenely.
"I agree."
The pair of little kongs stayed to watch the sunset for a long time. Both enjoyed each other's company and made internal leaps of happiness; after all, things had gone well as they had thought, and now they had been able to go out alone and have a good time.
"We should go back to the waterfall another day; it was a lot of fun, don't you think, Diddy?" Dixie said, but Diddy didn't answer her this time. "Diddy?"
Dixie turned to look at him and realized that Diddy had fallen asleep. She laughed quietly at the sight of him like this, and then stroked his cheek a little... She stared at him for a long moment, which made her smile more.
Later, Diddy was waking up, so Dixie immediately turned to pretend she was distracted.
"What... Happened?" Diddy said, waking up and rubbing his eyes.
"You fell asleep," Dixie replied with a shrug and small laughs. "Why don't we go back to the house? It's almost night."
"Okay, let's go," Diddy said, getting up. "It's getting dark so fast."
Meanwhile, Donkey had spent the afternoon with Chunky, Kiddy and Tiny to prevent them from sneaking into Diddy and Dixie's date. According to all of them, they had managed to distract the other without them noticing. Even to prevent any awkward situation when Diddy and Dixie arrived together, Donkey had decided to take the three young kongs to Funky's residence to better distract them. Candy, Lanky and Swanky were also present accompanying them.
"Now it's my turn," Tiny said as they all played a board game.
"Huh! That token can't move like that," Chunky replied.
"Actually, you can," Lanky added, shrugging.
Donkey had planned to return home after that, but suddenly, he noticed the presence of Diddy and Dixie walking through the nearby trees... and heading towards the meeting place. Donkey made eye contact with them as they arrived and smiled forcibly at them, while trying to hide his expression in front of everyone.
In the same way, Tiny, Kiddy and Chunky had also noticed their arrival, so the three made disguised gestures to let them arrive calmly.
"Hello, friends!" Diddy and Dixie greeted them, smiling. "How are you around here?"
"Oh, hello, little friends!" Donkey greeted them, trying to speak to them normally, before the rest of the kongs greeted them as well.
"Hey, come play this game!" Tiny told them in the same way so as not to generate any tension.
"And how is this played?" Diddy asked them curiously.
"We'll teach you, come," Donkey added, inviting them.
Diddy and Dixie joined without further pretext to play with their friends. The outing had gone from a date between two friends to being a simple group meeting of friends... But while that was happening, both Donkey and Dixie's relatives kept dissembling and looking sideways at Diddy and Dixie, trying not to mention anything about it with their date... even though they wanted to laugh.
"Hey, do you want me to prepare an appetizer for you?" Funky suggested after a while.
"If you can; Chunky is hungry," Chunky replied, rubbing his abdomen.
"Okay, because I have some exquisite coconut drinks today," Funky added as he got up. "And right, Diddy and Dixie, where were you two this afternoon? You're the only ones I didn't see."
Diddy and Dixie's eyes opened to the maximum immediately, while Donkey, Tiny and Chunky tried to be the ones who knew nothing, although deep down they began to contain some laughter.
"Uhh... we just went for a walk," Diddy replied with a forced smile.
"Oh, okay," Funky said, smiling suspiciously as he retreated, while also holding back his laughter.
For their part, Diddy and Dixie were just trying to ignore it, while each of the two looked sideways at their respective relatives with hidden smiles between their teeth.
Later, the kongs continued with their game until it was done later, they even stayed for dinner all together. For one, Donkey went to sit together with Diddy in a corner, so he could talk to him more privately when asking him about his day.
"Well, little buddy," Donkey said, looking up. "How did you do with Dixie, huh? I was able to distract Tiny, Kiddy and Chunky, by the way."
"We did very well," Diddy replied, smiling. "We went to play at the waterfalls and on the Funky's aerial transporter."
"Really? You two had so much fun from what I see."
"You see, first we went under a tree and there we started talking about the two of us," Diddy began telling normally until he remembered the stories of Dixie. "Well... although she also told me... how they came to this island…"
"Wait, did she tell you about what happened to her whole family?" Donkey asked.
"The same, why?"
"You know? While I was with Tiny, Kiddy and Chunky, they also told me that story," Donkey said with some sadness. "It was terrible, it's really been hard for them. I didn't imagine something like that would have happened to them."
"I know, that's very sad... And that's why they were fugitives when they arrived."
"Yes, everything that happened to them must have been terrible," Donkey added in the same tone. "It was also why I brought them here, so they could cheer up a little."
"The good thing is that they feel good here, and they're good friends," Diddy added, smiling a little again. "And that's what happened, then I went with Dixie to the waterfalls, also to cheer her up."
"I see you didn't do badly then," Donkey said, patting him lightly on the shoulder. "And that's what you can do for her: be good friends and make the two feel comfortable sharing together, until who knows... Something else may arise."
"I don't think it sounds as complex as I thought anymore," Diddy said with a little laugh.
"Well, love situations are somewhat complex, actually," Donkey commented in the same way. "It just shouldn't be exhausting. If she is right for you, you shouldn't have to make so much effort to get she reciprocate you, because if otherwise, then she's not."
Although Diddy didn't quite understand the love situations, he was feeling comfortable listening to Donkey talk to him about it, especially in the situation he was in now. Chunky, Kiddy and Tiny were considered very good friends, but with Dixie... it was different, it was... something else he was feeling, something that even made him feel so good that he forgot even the conflicts with his bad classmates. And, of course, he was now happy to have shared some moments with her that afternoon; he really enjoyed being with Dixie playing and laughing or even talking for long periods.
At the end of their respective meals, Donkey and Diddy picked up their food trays, reuniting with the rest of the kongs.
"Diddy!" Tiny called him along with Dixie, to which he turned. "Do you want to come and play with us another round?"
"From the same game as recently?" Diddy asked. "Of course! Let's go."
"Come on. Chunky, Lanky and Swanky are already starting," Dixie said, taking his arm.
Then, Diddy went to meet his friends to join their game. Meanwhile, Donkey stared at him in the distance and smiled.
"So, he decided to ask Dixie out this afternoon, didn't he?" Candy said quietly, appearing next to Donkey.
"Yes, he was able to do it after all," Donkey replied with a few small laughs. "Anyway, it's seen that the two are good friends."
"Do you think that something will emerge with those two in the future?" Candy asked the same way. "I mean, I know they're still kids, but who knows."
"Hey, I don't know that yet; they're kids like you said," Donkey added with a shrug. "In the meantime, I would just have to keep in mind that Diddy does things right and see to his well-being."
"And you know?... I've seen Diddy happier these days," Candy said.
"It's true, I was going to tell you the same thing too," Donkey added, smiling as he looked at Diddy from a distance, having fun and playing with his friends. "In fact, I haven't noticed him so scared or worried about going to school this last week, it's as if... he would have had a change."
"Maybe before he was just overwhelmed by the latest adventure, darling," Candy added.
"Maybe," Donkey replied with a shrug and then a sigh. "I didn't want to take him on that adventure that time, but I couldn't leave him alone either. He is just a kid, although in a few years he will no longer be."
Later that night, Dixie with her cousins and sister were in the living room of their home. Therefore, she had also told them how she had fared with Diddy on their friendly date.
"... and that's all," Dixie finished smiling as she recalled the moments with Diddy. "We had a good time, and it was very nice."
"And then you two arrived at Funky's house with lost faces," Tiny said with a laugh.
"Hey, believe me, I wanted to ask how you all got there," Dixie added likewise. "But I also didn't want to create tension and mention it in front of Diddy and Donkey."
"Don't you think Diddy was also planning to hang out with Dixie?" Chunky questioned. "Donkey looked as if he also wanted to wind up the matter so that they would go out."
"Oh, I don't think so," Dixie said with a little laugh. Then, she breathed a sigh and smiled tenderly. "Oh, but hey, why am I going to lie to you?... Diddy was so cute, he treated me super nice and I feel too good being by his side."
"Who knows, sister," Tiny added with a playful smile. "I bet Diddy likes you a lot too."
"Do you think?" Dixie said with a few small laughs.
"I do think so, maybe one day something else will happen between you. Can you imagine if he ever asks you to be his girlfriend?"
"Hey, don't invent anymore," Dixie replied, blushing at the thought of it, and then looked into nothingness, sighing again. "Oh, although... it would be very nice if that happened."
Suddenly, Kiddy climbed on the couch and leaned out the window... As if looking for something, he turned his gaze to the starry sky and stayed like that for a while. The other three kongs looked at him strangely at first, so they went to see what happened to him.
"What's going on, Kiddy?" Dixie asked.
Kiddy turned to them and his gaze was very sad and melancholy, as if he was about to shed a few tears.
"Mom and Dad come back?" the little gorilla asked in a low tone. Apparently, he still didn't fully understand their situation.
The cheerful expression of the other three kongs also faded immediately, and they headed toward the little kong. Dixie placed her hand on Kiddy's back and looked at him with deep sadness as well.
"You see, Kiddy... It's hard all this, but they're gone and... they won't come back, ours won't come back either," Dixie replied in the same tone of voice, but trying to keep some strength in front of her little cousin. "But... surely they are resting somewhere better than this, and... perhaps we can still perceive their love for us in any pleasant thing that may happen to us... like landing on this island and finding good friends, for example," she added, smiling a little and remembering what Diddy had told her.
"But Chunky misses them a lot, too," Chunky said sadly, lowering his gaze.
"We all miss them," Tiny added in the same way. "These last few years have been very difficult."
"And they still are," Dixie continued, this time, letting her sadness be expressed without concealing it. "We... are the only ones that remain in our family, and the truth... even with all this, I don't know what might become of our future afterward."
"If Chunky finds those monstrous beings again, he would give them a lesson they won't forget," Chunky added, clenching his fists in indignation.
"And who doesn't? You don't know how I would want to do it if I could," Dixie said in the same way, before having another sigh. "But... We can do nothing but stay safe and... just see what will await us from now on... At least we are in a safe place and I just hope that we continue as well as possible," she concluded, emitting a short smile towards her sister and cousins, although she faded it again afterwards.
"I hope so, too," Tiny added with the same expression.
The four of them sat down and stood on the sofa for a while hugging each other. Even if Dixie wished with all her being that things were different or at least that she could do something about it, she knew that she couldn't do anything and that hurt her a lot, especially for her three remaining loved ones. The four kongs shed a few tears as they remembered their situation, but at the same time, between the four of them they felt safe staying united; after all, they still had each other, since they were the only members of their family they had left...
A/N: This chapter ends here. Not counting the cute moments, I always found it somewhat difficult to reread these scenes :(