Chapter 30: Clarifications
In the shelter of the animals, the group of gorillas that were the owners there, were preparing a dinner for all those present; it seemed to be their custom to offer a quality dinner to the newcomers. Likewise, the animals that were from the circus and the zoo also helped and, among them, Diddy had sneaked in; he didn't really have much to do, as there were many animals volunteering.
Diddy was bringing a few dishes to the table, when suddenly, he realized at a distance that Dixie had come. He had to avoid making eye contact with her and, if possible, pretend he hadn't seen her. When Diddy finished doing everything, he went to sit down together with all the animals, and of course, Dixie had to sit next to him. In the same way, she didn't want to look at him when she arrived.
The other animals talked normally as they began to eat. The table was very extensive and had a lot of food on top, mostly fruits. The animals that were from the circus had several patches on their wounds to heal, while they were having another countenance thanks to the help they would receive in that shelter.
For their part, Diddy and Dixie were silent, just eating without uttering a word. Between times, they looked sideways at each other, but then immediately looked away again.
"Hey, why are you two so quiet?" one of the animals asked them both. "Did you go this afternoon to explore this island?"
"Uhh... Yeah... Of course we went," Diddy replied, lying to them with a forced smile.
"That's good, and where have you been? Have you seen the lake cliff changing color?"
"Well... Oh, yes," Dixie added, going with the flow. "Yeah, we went to that colorful lake, we even swam there."
"Swimming?! But if you can't swim in that lake; there are toxic substances inside."
"No, but it wasn't at the lake, it was at the beach," Diddy continued, arranging the excuse.
"That's good, little monkeys... And what else do you tell us about you? What is your Island DK like?"
Diddy and Dixie continued to talk to the animals, although they rarely spoke to each other; it was a pleasant moment and at the same time somewhat tense. They didn't tell them that they actually spent the afternoon building boats because they knew that all would contradict them with the idea that the sea was dangerous at that time. They also didn't say they had argued, so all the time they pretended to get along normally.
"Dessert time!" exclaimed one of the apes of the refuge while bringing several plates with fruit cakes, creating excitement in those ones present.
"Oh, and for you, little monkeys: banana cake special just for you," said another ape, handing a plate of slices of banana cake to Diddy and Dixie.
The pieces of cake looked so delicious that it made both kongs' eyes shine, and they didn't hesitate for a second to eat them. They ate the whole dessert until they left only one slice on the plate; Dixie was going to eat her right away, but Diddy went ahead first... although before doing so, he stopped and decided to leave it for Dixie; she hesitated to take the last piece, but Diddy smiled at her somewhat shyly as a sign that she could keep it for herself... Dixie gave him a look of strangeness at the gesture, but then agreed anyway.
The night continued, and all the animals continued to talk until later. After all, it hadn't been a bad place for Diddy and Dixie either; at least there were many animals already known before and they had safe refuge to stay.
It was already going to be bedtime, so each of the animals had planned their space to rest. Some preferred to sleep on the ground, others on rocks, others in lagoons, while others in trees.
"Will we sleep here?" Diddy asked, pointing to some branches.
"Yes, there is enough space for both," replied the apes in the shelter. "Just get comfortable and sleep peacefully."
Diddy and Dixie climbed some tree branches not so far to the ground. Each had a nest made of leaves and branches, and each settled in place to sleep.
"Now we let you rest, little monkeys. Good night," the apes told them.
"Good night," they both replied at the same time, as the rest of the animals.
The apes left and let all the animals to rest. Diddy and Dixie looked at each other sideways from their positions, but still didn't say a word to each other; they just turned over and lay down to sleep. Around their nests, there were all the other animals resting each in various corners. The atmosphere was cozy and very comfortable... Until some of the animals began to emit loud snoring.
Maybe half an hour passed. Everyone was well asleep, except for Diddy and Dixie, who couldn't fall asleep, and just tossed and turned trying to sleep. The snoring of others, especially those from big animals, was becoming louder and more repetitive. Not even in the circus did they make so much noise, because having more animals sleeping in the same area, the environment was no longer as suitable to sleep as thought.
Between times, Dixie threw light branches at the animals to make them shut up, but the effect only lasted a few seconds and then the loud snoring invaded the environment again. She couldn't take it anymore and decided to get down from the tree, then she left the shelter and went for a walk outside.
Soon, Diddy noticed that Dixie had gone out and he watched her until the end, then settled back into his position to sleep... But suddenly, he remembered on the terms that he was with her again... After thinking it over, he was very regretful for arguing with Dixie; while it was true that she didn't keep his secret... he thought she might be right; maybe it wasn't good to keep hiding that about his bad classmates. He also thought that if he had reported them from the beginning, Wrinkly would have taken preventive measures and stopped them or even expelled them from Kong Kollege... But everything had already passed and the story couldn't be changed anymore. Now, Diddy only had to fix things with Dixie first, and then resume the search for DK Island. He didn't want to be on bad terms with her again; it wouldn't be worth it... He even remembered Donkey, because in the same way he had several arguments with him when it came to the quartet of his bad classmates; he didn't want to have a problem like that with Dixie because of it.
After thinking about it, Diddy also got up to leave the shelter, and decided to follow Dixie. He tried not to make so much noise so as not to wake anyone up, and went outside. He walked for a while until he managed to locate Dixie in the distance and went in her direction, making sure she still didn't notice his presence. He walked a few meters up some hills, not so far from the shelter, until later, he watched Dixie stop.
Dixie had gone to sit under a willow tree on the banks of a cliff overlooking the sea, just to watch out of nowhere. Diddy walked to the willow tree where she was and stopped to think about how he would talk to her normally again and, of course, how to apologize to her. He took a few stealthy steps until he got a little closer to where she was, and peeked out of one side of the tree. Dixie felt his presence and turned to look at him, so Diddy immediately hid again. Even so, Dixie had already figured him out, so he came out anyway, but she just ignored him and even turned her head so as not to see him.
"Uhh... Hi!" said Diddy, trying to get the words out and speaking with a forced smile. "Uh... I... I'm Diddy and... I was coming looking for... Dixie! Well... she's... my best friend and... we have to... return to DK Island, or else, we'll stay here on this unknown island... forever!"
Diddy didn't even know what he was saying, while Dixie still continued to stay serious and didn't want to answer him, she didn't even turn to look at him; she completely ignored him as if he wasn't there and as if she hadn't seen him coming.
"Oh, okay, Dixie. I... I'm sorry," he said before sighing and speaking normally this time. "Forgive me, I don't want to continue fighting with you, we already had done it before we left DK Island; I wouldn't want it to be repeated."
Dixie still kept ignoring him, not looking at him and not talking to him at all. Diddy was silent for a few seconds and then, quite unsurely, sat next to her.
"If you want to, don't look at me, but just listen to me," Diddy said somewhat shyly and hoping Dixie wouldn't ignore him. "Well... I know you told Donkey and the others about those fools, and you know I didn't want anyone to know so as not to cause conflict between them... Yes, that annoyed me a lot, but... maybe you're right: if I had reported them a long time ago, we wouldn't even be here... Wrinkly would have done something about it. But all I did was keep it to myself... And now, I understood that those secrets shouldn't be kept. And forgive me, I don't want to be on bad terms with you again, Dixie. I can't get mad at you when... you have done much for me... You went for me to that zoo, you stayed the whole time I was locked up there, and we released everyone else. We ended up here on this island, we don't know where DK Island is, but... we can still keep looking for it. I don't want us to be like this, much less in this situation. We'll continue to build the boat... If you want, we could use yours; that one was better than mine, and... What are you laughing at? Hey! You're laughing!"
Suddenly, Dixie was starting to snicker and then burst out laughing.
"It's that... I remembered w-when..." Dixie said, trying to hold back her laughter and finally turning to look at him, "when you were also trying to make holes in the boat and everything was damaged! And then you started stomping your cap on the ground!"
"Hey, it's not funny!" Diddy replied, placing his hands at his sides. "Well, I laughed when you tripped over the vines!"
"Ah, yeah? Well, who was it that made all that pile of branches and vines fall to the ground?" Dixie added, challenging him.
"It was an accident," Diddy replied before returning to normal talk. "And by the way... where did you learn to build boats?"
"Remember that with Tiny, Kiddy and Chunky we learned some things about survival when we moved from islands."
Diddy and Dixie, leaving the topic aside for a while, continued to laugh a little as they recalled the anecdotes of that same afternoon when they built their respective boats. But after a moment, Dixie became serious again.
"Uhh... Diddy, I…" she said in a calmer tone and stopped the laughter completely. "Okay, I can forgive you, we shouldn't be like this," she added before speaking to him quite seriously. "But… the truth is that it did annoy me that you took it that way. All this time I even just tried to understand you, to put myself in your place, and I also kept that secret when we shouldn't have done," Dixie sighed before continuing. "Anyway... also excuse me, Diddy, for revealing that when I promised you not to do it."
"Oh, no, no, don't apologize for that, Dixie... You just did what I should have done a long time ago," Diddy said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And don't worry, maybe those four fools aren't even on DK Island; we just have to be careful not to run into them when we return... And it's not true what I told you about not trusting you anymore or returning in my own boat to DK Island, of course I wouldn't leave here without you, Dixie."
Dixie continued to be serious for a few seconds, although it seemed to have made her feel a little better that Diddy had begun to recognize the situation as it was.
"Okay, Diddy," Dixie replied, putting a hand on his shoulder and smiling a little again. "So, I think... it's all clear, and the important thing now is that we continue to stay together on returning to DK Island. And I know, I... I wasn't really going to leave without you either; Obviously we must return together."
Diddy smiled back, this time feeling better too, having managed to talk about it with Dixie.
"Well…" Dixie added later. "Do we go back there to the shelter or do we stay?"
"I don't think I want to sleep there; everyone snores like thunder."
"You're right, I couldn't stand them anymore, that's why I got out of there," Dixie said with a slight laugh. "The place is nice, but not to sleep."
"It's true, I think I would prefer a house to sleep in."
Then, they both fell silent and sat looking up at the horizon in sight. At last, the two seemed to have truly reconciled; they just hoped not to have fights again for small causes, much less Diddy, since he no longer wanted to have an argument because of that topic with someone important to him... He even remembered Donkey and the times the same thing had happened with him.
As they looked at the horizon from where they were, they only saw the sea being covered by a thick fog, which began to generate uncertainty, especially for Dixie.
"Diddy... do you think we'll be able to get home?" Dixie asked in a low tone.
"Of course... I hope so," Diddy replied even though he also had that uncertainty. "Well, I'm pretty sure it does. We just have to finish the boat, carry enough food and water, and watch out for storms. Who knows, and in the end DK Island is not so far away."
Dixie didn't answer, just looked down, wondering if they could really return from an island they hadn't even known. Diddy just turned to look at her again; he also felt the same way and didn't really have high expectations that they could achieve it, but he needed to stay calm and wanted to cheer Dixie up to stay that way too.
"Don't worry, Dix. We'll get out of this, you'll see," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "If we manage to get out of that zoo, we might as well get out of here and everything will be fine again."
Dixie smiled a little, and then continued quietly looking at the panorama in front of them. It was too late to stay awake, but they also didn't want to return to the shelter for the time being, because of the noisy environment there.
"Hey, Diddy," Dixie said after a while, as they looked at the horizon.
"Yeah?"
"When we were still on DK Island... what did you want to tell me so much?"
"What are you talking about?"
"When you told me you liked my pyramid, what else were you going to tell me at the last moment?"
Diddy felt a slight acceleration in his heartbeat upon hearing that. He remembered that he had to confess something very important to Dixie, that he struggled too much to say it and didn't manage it, and that with Jemky's matter the encouragement to do it had disappeared, but... Jemky's was fake, so... he could still do it, but he would have to take courage again. Also, he didn't know if in a situation like that it would be a good time to say it.
"Well... Oh, yes," he replied with a forced smile. "It was just that: that I liked your pyramid, you made it great and-"
"Diddy, I do know," Dixie interrupted with a little laugh. "Really… weren't you going to tell me anything else?"
Diddy remained silent, he realized that maybe it was a good time to tell her: both were alone, with no one or anything to interrupt them, with nothing else to do for the moment. But even so, nerves began to invade him and he was still afraid of how Dixie would react. It had been a week since he felt that way again.
"Well... In fact… there was something else I was going to tell you," Diddy replied, trying to swallow his nerves after saying that.
"And... was something important?" Dixie asked, still with a few little laughs.
"Well... okay. I-I'll tell you," Diddy said, controlling his nerves and looking into her eyes between moments as he settled down to be in front of her. "Well, Dix, is that... you're my friend and… well, I consider them all very good friends like Donkey or Funky. And… I consider Chunky, Kiddy and Tiny very much... But you... You are something special and... you really are very important to me, Dix. With you I feel great, I like to spend time with you... Oh, I don't know how to explain it to you-"
"Okay, Diddy," Dixie interrupted, smiling with a few slight blushes and placing her hand on his unexpectedly, which made Diddy's heartbeat faster. "You... You are also very important to me... I love you very much, seriously."
Both of them continued in silence, not knowing what else to say. Diddy tried to tell her in a subtle way, since he didn't yet have the courage to say it well. Dixie, on the other hand, looked him straight in the eye, to which Diddy also looked at her and smiled at her, while his heartbeat was racing after that response from her.
Suddenly, Dixie came a little closer. Diddy was confused about it, but then he began to wonder what could happen... Maybe something that also happened before the storm swept them away and that, although in the afternoon they were on bad terms, was the thought that most resonated in the minds of the two. Diddy also moved a little closer to her, while Dixie felt all her nerves inside her just like Diddy, who felt her heart beating faster and faster. Seconds later, Dixie took Diddy's face, and then both of them were getting closer and closing their eyes. A couple of seconds later... their lips had come together with each other. Dixie separated almost instantly and looked into Diddy's eyes again, wondering if what was happening between the two was real, while he was paralyzed by what had just happened... But then, although with all nerves, he also took Dixie's face and led it to his... until they put their lips together again. During the moment they kept their lips in contact, they felt their hearts beat too intensely as if they were going to come out, in addition to feeling continuous fluttering in the stomach, but at the same time, they enjoyed it... forgetting for a while that they were on a distant island.
They parted later, opening their eyes as Diddy stroked Dixie's hair tenderly, and she held his face. They looked into each other's eyes for another while, watching every detail of them, still with their hearts beating with intensity. Then, they both sat up sideways and looked away. Neither of them wanted to say another word; they just wondered if they were dreaming or if it had been real.
A moment later, Diddy turned to look at Dixie, and she did the same. They smiled shyly and, although with all the nerves alive, they were settling down to be next to each other. Diddy hugged Dixie sideways, while she wrapped her hair around him and then reciprocated the hug. Diddy would make internal jumps of excitement, and Dixie would smile as much as she could as they stayed that way. Both enjoyed each other's company; it was an emotion they didn't know how to describe at that moment.