Hello folks, and welcome to the third chapter! It's funnily enough the 1 year anniversary of this story, so why not post a chapter on this day? Enjoy, it's quite a treat. :)

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Elizabeth hummed to herself, pouring pale green soup into a bowl. She came to the table, setting it down for Gumball as she sat down with her serving, beginning to enjoy her meal. Enjoy was not the greatest word to use however, as the soup was rather murky and bitter in taste. Too much rat tails.

"How come we keep having to eat soup?" The cat questioned, poking at the food with his spoon. He was hesitant to consume such material, but knew not to complain, carefully trying to stomach the liquid. Thankfully he was pretty used to meals like this, even if they weren't the most ideal to him.

"Currency is a little tight right now, child. I apologize."

The two then ate in silence, peace seeming to set the mood. There wasn't a whole lot to talk about. However, it didn't last for long.

"..Pause child. Do you hear that?" Elizabeth stood up quickly, but quietly, as did Gumball. She narrowed her eyes, listening for the noise. She soon heard it. Footsteps, and shouting. "...They've come back.."

"...W-Who?.. Is it.. Is it those.. Guys?.." Gumball made sure to keep his satchel safe, quietly reaching one hand out to be prepared to grab some items in the home. He couldn't deny the absolute fear he felt right now. It couldn't be them. He was safe for years, everything was just fine! Why did they have to come back?

"...Secure our potions and go hide. Now."

The feline did not hesitate, as the noises of thumping and talking grew louder. He ran into the cauldron room, grabbing as many potions as he could. He could hear Elizabeth shouting at him to hurry, as a sound of a crash was heard in the living room. Panicking, Gumball made sure to stay hidden, having grabbed most if not all of the items deemed important.

Screaming and sounds of magic being used were heard, sounding a little reminiscent of… Seven years ago.

No.. No not again….

Gumball tried to take a look, but quickly hid as he saw several pairs of boots in his vision. He stayed as quiet as he could. He hated feeling this vulnerable right now, but he knew not to interfere. He was the sole target, and one wrong move could jeopardize everything. His mother would protect him now. Everything will be fine.

"You won't get anything you thieves! Now leave my home at once!" Elizabeth was heard shouting, threatening to hurt them with her spells. The cat could only assume red magic was being used, knowing it was her main specialty just like his.

Minutes upon minutes of fighting began, Gumball frightened as he clutched his bag, holding it close to him as the sounds grew worse. It was fine. All was fine. He was going to make it this time. It wasn't like before. It would never be like before. He soon heard… Ticking.

The men had gone silent. But the noise had not.

"Gumball where are you?!"

"I'm here!" He called out, revealing himself as he was quick to run over to Elizabeth. His eyes widened in horror seeing the situation, however. "..No…. No anything but that!"

The men were lying on the ground, and stuck to Elizabeth was a deadly magic explosive. It could kill anyone within its close radius. How did they access such a dangerous weapon? It was hard to focus on that right now, considering the situation at hand.

"Child, get to town. You can hide there from the other groups." She looked at him with a seriousness, yet guilt. Even through it all, she was still trying to remain strong and powerful. If only she truely was.

"..But.. Mom you can come too right? We can just take that bomb off and-"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple.." Elizabeth sighed, the ticking a horrible sound to hear. They both knew that a bomb like this would never easily be freed, not in this short time. There was nothing that could be done about it. "I won't survive, but you will. Keep the potions safe, and your powers most importantly. Don't let anyone know."

"...I can't… I don't wanna lose you too…" Tears appeared in Gumball's eyes. He so badly wanted to pull it off himself, to blast it off if he needed. This couldn't be happening. After so long.. It was only repeating again. "P-Please... There's gotta be something we can do.."

"I'm sorry.." The noise grew louder, to their fear. Elizabeth could only feel sorrow, as she sat herself down in her favorite chair. She couldn't bear doing this, not to him. "I know I should of been better.. I don't wish for you to be alone.."

"But…"

"Gumball, you need to go.. The ticking is almost up. It will explode in minutes."

"...I love you mom.." In tears, he surrounded himself with magic, disappearing.

"I love you too…" Elizabeth uttered, as she closed her eyes. It was time.

The bomb exploded.

Gumball fell onto the ground with slight pain, magic disappearing as he found himself in an alleyway. Alone.

"I guess it's just… Me…" He couldn't stop crying, falling onto his knees on the cold pavement. After all this. Was he truely going to be safe? Was he ever going to be able to sit in one place and not fear those horrible people coming to get him at every turn? Was everyone he loved going to die around him every time?

Come on Gumball, we gotta stay strong..

He took a sharp breath, trying to shake away his thoughts, and stood up, glancing around at his surroundings. The cat recognized the area, having been here before. "Okay, nothing new. Cool."

Gumball carefully walked out of the alley, hood covering his head, though his cat ears stuck out. As he walked down the sidewalk, nearly clutching his satchel like it was a vital life saver, he could see citizens on their usual busy days, not a care in the world. He held his bag tighter.

He didn't belong here.

The feline's ears perked up slightly, as he heard a familiar voice nearby. He soon realized who it was, eyes widening. "Huh, small world.."

It appeared that the goldfi- Darwin, was.. Being yelled at? Confused, Gumball tried to listen to the conversation, staying a bit farther away. He didn't want anyone giving him weird looks for staring.

"Where's my five bucks fish freak?! You said today I'd get it back!" A bomb looking guy was shouting at the other, a couple other tough people surrounding him. Something about them spelled bad news, telling by their angry threatening expressions, and their fists raised to a fighting stance.

"I did! Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Darwin looked desperate to escape, brief tears seen in his eyes. He glanced around for an exit, but did not find any opening, the gang blocking every one. He trembled where he stood, afraid for what might become of him.

This made the feline scowl. Sure, he only knew this kid barely a day, but it was the only friend he had. He couldn't let him get hurt or worse. Quietly, he raised one paw up, muttering to himself.

"I'm going to say it one more time, and not again.. Where is my mon-" The bomb grew shocked, as he was suddenly stuck in his place. He tried to lift his feet, but everything was frozen, down to his head placement. "What the?!"

The other kids were also stuck, struggling to move. It was like superglue was stuck to themselves. Onlookers chuckled at the sight, much to the gang's annoyance, as they shouted at each other angrily.

Gumball chuckled, but froze when he saw Darwin looking at him from across the street. "...Shoot."

He was quick to try and get away. So much for trying to help. However, fate proved otherwise.

"Hey wait!"

He felt a hand tug at his cape, keeping him from running. Worried, the cat turned around slowly. Was he going to lose his friend too? As if he needed more things to cry about. "Look sorry, I didn't mean to accidentally ruin-"

"Ruin? Dude, you just saved my butt back there. Julius is literally the worst."

Gumball raised an eyebrow, confused by this response. Admittedly, he wasn't very good at understanding casual conversation, at least not in town. He could really only pretend he knew what that meant. "Oh.. Uh.. You're welcome?..."

"So um.." Darwin let go, the two occasionally glancing over to the gang still stuck in their spots. He raised an eyebrow, turning his attention back to the cat. "Why are you here?.."

It felt like time had stopped. Gumball tried to block out the horrible, horrible ticking sounds ringing through his mind. His gaze fell to the sidewalk below him. "...Something bad happened…"

"..Bad?.. What happened?..." The goldfish became concerned, noticing the other's behavior. He could tell something was wrong. This wasn't like last time when the cat was rather hilarious. He was careful not to tread too much, unsure of the situation.

Gumball kept his focus on the concrete, afraid to answer. He didn't want to think about it. Was this technically even breaking his mother's promise? Though.. This was his friend. He trusted him. He could say to him, couldn't he? He mentally prepared himself for the words he was about to say.

"...She's dead." Tears appeared in his eyes, as he began to tremble, gripping onto his arms. "...Mom's dead... I'm alone again.. And.. I have nobody…"

It was horrible uttering these words. What if he was scoffed at and abandoned?..

"..Oh gosh… I'm so sorry…" Darwin looked hesitant at first, unsure of how to respond, but decided to hug him, the other beginning to sob horribly. He very much knew the cat needed him right now. "..I promise you.. You won't be alone, I won't let it happen.."

"...You care?..."

"Of course.. Nobody should go through something horrible like that by themselves.." Darwin took his paw, concern in his eyes. "..Come on. We can go to my house, and talk, if that's alright with you?"

Gumball hesitated, but sighed, quietly nodding. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go. He followed the goldfish through the town, eventually dropping the spell used on the gang. It seemed like hours, but they finally arrived at a rather nice looking home. It was a green one story home, with white shutters on its windows, with a nice little yard and what looked to another in back.

He was very much on high alert, trust issues rising as he entered past the door. It had been a couple years since the cat's been in an actual house, and not just a cave-looking place. What would it even look like? He observed his surroundings, seeing what looked like a fairly nice living space, with family photos on the walls, cozy furniture to match the colors of the place, and a general calm atmosphere. It was rather strange to see.

"My parents aren't home yet, so you don't have to worry about them meeting you yet or anything." Darwin closed the door behind him, as he and Gumball stood on the nice fuzzy carpet. "Do you want me to get anything?"

"Um…" The cat nervously tugged at his cape, unsure how to answer. He didn't know if it was okay to sit down. It was all too weird for him right now. "..I don't know.. I'm not really used to eating anything that my mom hasn't made.."

"Well, we've got other stuff, maybe you could try something?" The goldfish led him to the kitchen, to which the feline's eyes widened by the food he saw. Everything inside looked fascinating, practically delicious.

He pretty much was like a kid in a candy store, walking around until his eyes spotted something on a shelf. The sight of it made him gasp. "What's that?"

"Oh, that's just cereal-"

"I want it."

Darwin blinked, looking a little surprised. "Well okay, I guess you can have some. Do you not get any sugar or something?"

"My second mom never really got me too much of this stuff. Said that witch children and sugar was disaster or whatever." Gumball reached out and grabbed the box, digging through the cereal and putting it into a bowl, as he ate it dry with a metal spoon. "Gosh I don't think I've had this in like 7 years."

"It's better with milk." Darwin said with a shrug, as the other quickly took that comment to note, yanking a carton from the fridge as he poured it over.

"This is soo gooood!" The cat shoveled spoonfuls into his mouth, though paused. His expression morphed into that of awkwardness. "..Is this weird? Sorry.."

"No no, you're good. I get it." The goldfish responded, kneeling down as he noticed the other wasn't exactly moving off the kitchen floor just yet. He knew he couldn't leave the elephant in the room waiting any longer. "...What exactly happened to your mom?..."

"..." Gumball briefly stopped eating, a frown appearing, as the cereal sat in his lap. "...The people who tried taking me years ago.. broke into our house.. I tried to grab everything I could, and she fought em off…"

Tears scrolled down his cheeks as he continued. The memories hurt to remember, playing over in his mind. "..I could of helped her.. But I just hid like a stupid coward.. And.. An explosive was stuck to her…"

He didn't bother finishing, bursting into tears as Darwin connected the dots.

"Oh gosh…" The goldfish wasn't entirely sure how to comfort him, awkwardly hugging the cat who was quick to return it. He had never really dealt with something like this before. Then again, he wasn't all too familiar with real witches and magic.

"..I'm sure you know the rest.. I'm.. Alone now."

For a moment, the two only hugged, silence filling the room, as well as grief. The cereal was left on the floor, getting soggy in its abandoned state, but it had no use at this moment.

"...You can stay here."

"What?" Gumball looked up, confusion appearing on his face.

"You need a home, y'know?.. Friends don't let friends suffer. I think my parents wouldn't mind if you stayed, they like guests.." Darwin said. He was about to let go of the cat, however quickly stopped such action, seeing the other upset by it. He had a feeling there was some sort of.. Abandonment issues going on, but it was fairly understandable.

"..You'd do that for me?.." Gumball couldn't find himself able to fathom it. Was he hearing what he thought he was hearing? "But.. I'm a witch! What if I mess up?.. I don't know what a normal life is like.."

"Well I can teach you," The fish replied, now letting go as he seemed able to. He gave a brief smile, sitting on his knees, as did his friend. "It probably isn't as hard as those cheesy 90s movies make it out to be."

"..Yea.. The moving pictures.." The feline furrowed his eyebrows by that sentence.

"Okay it's a bit of work but it'll be fine, no worries."

The cat smiled. He wasn't sure how, but something inside told him that he would be okay. Maybe this was how it was played out, meant to be in a way. At least he wasn't dealing with this by himself now. It was almost like a miracle. "..Thank you.."

Darwin nodded, sharing the sentiment. It would surely be an interesting adjustment, but he was willing to do what it would take to help his friend out. Perhaps this could be something great.