Chapter 54: A Friendly Ending?
In the mid-afternoon hours of the same day, Diddy and Dixie were at home cleaning and tidying up their room, as it was something they always did every beginning of the week as Mr. Pinky had indicated. Both of them were already a little calmer, as they now had information of his whereabouts.
Dixie went outside for a while to clean one of the windows, when suddenly, she could see in the distance certain known silhouettes that seemed to be heading towards the house. Immediately, Dixie entered the house again and headed towards Diddy.
"Guess who's coming here," Dixie said, rolling her eyes.
Diddy, while cleaning some shelves, turned and, from Dixie's expression, guessed who she was referring to.
"Don't tell me... It's those four fake ones, right?"
"The same. And now what will they want?" Dixie wondered.
"And what will those come to right now?" Diddy added with a look of disgust.
"No idea, but it sounds very shameless if they come looking for us... What in the world will they want to tell us?"
"If it's to apologize, I don't know about you, but I won't forgive them anymore," Diddy said firmly. "Not now."
"And what do we say to them then?" she added, crossing her arms.
"Well, let them go; we have nothing to say to them," he replied with a shrug. "And are they coming here exactly?"
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door continuously. Diddy and Dixie looked at each other doubtful of wanting to open, but they had no choice.
"There's no one!" Diddy exclaimed before laughing quietly, to which Dixie nudged him a little.
Both went to look out the window and, indeed, it was that group, with whom they collided with some uncomfortable looks since they were right in front of the door. After hesitating for a few seconds, both proceeded to open the door slowly, at the same time looking at the four of them with extreme discomfort, and they returned their eyes.
"Yeah?" Diddy pronounced, looking at them seriously.
The four of them had much more tense expressions than the previous time. They gave each other small pushes and gestured to each other to talk.
"Uhh... can we talk to you?" Ricky told them with a forced smile.
Both Diddy and Dixie looked at them rather oddly at the shameless act of looking for them at their house; they even didn't lack the desire to kick them out of there.
"Talk... about what?" Diddy asked them, looking at them quite seriously.
"It's only a while," Mandy replied, forcing a smile. "Please."
Diddy and Dixie, almost without saying a word to them, nodded to the four of them, and then headed with them under the house to talk better... even if they didn't feel like doing it anymore. Arriving under the house, Diddy and Dixie just folded their arms as they stared and listened to the four of them.
"Hey... I know you're upset with us," Ricky told them with a low look and looking embarrassed. "But we wanted to tell you that... Well, yes... we did have that planned for you. Truly... sorry. We just came to apologize to you for all that... Sure, if you still want to."
"By the way, we'll sail the ship in four days," Mandy said with a forced smile. "We still have some adjustments to make. And we wanted to tell you that too, if you'll still go with us."
"Oh, excuse us!" Melvyn suddenly pleaded with them. "I know we were mean to you. Yes, we said all those things about the two of you and set these traps for you. But... we were thinking about it, and we really acted very badly. We wanted to know if... we could fix things with you."
"Please... we don't want to fight with you," Jenny added in the same way. "And I know I must be the one you hate the most among us, but... we promise you that this time things like this will never happen again... We want to change and be better friends for you."
Diddy and Dixie stood idly by as they listened. They were silent for a few seconds as they looked at each other not knowing what to answer them, and then looked at them. To both of them, everything they were saying seemed most blatant.
"Hey... You see," Dixie said after a while, "I... I could forgive you, but-"
"What?" interrupted Diddy, looking oddly at Dixie for what she had just told them. "Uhh... I mean, can we talk for a moment, please?" he whispered to Dixie in the last sentence.
Dixie returned the same look to Diddy, and then went with him to talk privately, away from the four of them.
"Dixie, what did you tell them?" Diddy said in confusion. "I mean, it's not because it's bad, but... this time I don't think it's a good idea to forgive them like last time."
"Why not?" Dixie replied. "It's just forgiving them, nothing more."
"No, it's just that…" Diddy sighed and placed a hand on Dixie's shoulder. "See... last time we forgave them, they told us almost the same things they're telling us now and look what happened: they did it again... and even worse. And not only that, but from before they already wanted to see us bad. So... if we forgive them, they could surely do it again... And likewise, things would be repeated: we forgive them and then they do some evil to us again."
"I'm not saying that, Diddy. Of course, it won't be the same as before," Dixie clarified. "What I mean is that we only forgive them, that is, that we'll have nothing against them or hate them… But that doesn't mean we're going to continue to be his friends. It's just that: we drift away and already cut off all the friendship with them. Yes, I know, it's difficult, both you and I want to give them their due, but I think it's better to let them go and that's it... I think it would be the right thing to do with them."
Diddy thought about it for a few seconds as he looked sideways at the four of them, but after all, Dixie's explanation didn't sound bad at all. Then, they went back to the four of them to tell them what they had pending and make everything clear to them.
"Hey," Diddy said to the four of them. "See, I thank you for coming to apologize to us, but I also hope you know what you've done to us. And we're really sorry, but... I don't think I can go on with this. And by the way, there's another thing we were going to tell you: we are no longer going to go with you on the ship... I'm sorry. In fact, that's what we were going to tell you at your house yesterday, but to our surprise, we arrived at the exact moment when you were badmouthing the two of us."
"But still... I want you to know something," Dixie continued. "We'll forgive you. Yes, as you hear, after everything you did to us. But... We don't want to hang around with you anymore. And we thank you for your ship, but we won't go anymore; we'll wait for the hurricanes to pass. And well, of course we can continue to greet you if we see each other again, but... 'friends' we won't be anymore."
There were a few seconds of silence between the two groups. The four kids just looked at Diddy and Dixie as if they no longer knew what to say to them after what the two of them told them about giving up on staying with them.
"U-uh... Hey, no!" Ricky hurriedly told them, heading towards the two of them along with the rest of the group. "What are you saying?... We didn't have that intention of no longer being friends with the two of you... We just wanted to apologize, that's all."
"Please, we don't want to hate you," Mandy added, taking them by the arms. "I know we did wrong, we were fools, but we didn't want you to take it that way either."
"Oh, come on," Diddy replied with a shrug. "Don't you realize that all along you've wanted Dixie and me to fight? Aren't you going to tell me that you speak ill of us to all your old friends?"
"And I'm not saying we're going to hate each other," Dixie continued, "that sounds like fighting, and it's not that I want that either. Simply... we won't hang around with you as before anymore. And well... I hope you'll do well... That's all we have to tell you."
Then, both without further ado, turned around to go back up to the house, wanting to end that irreparable discussion.
"No!" exclaimed Melvyn, stopping them. "And what about the ship? Do you really not want to come anymore? Remember we did it for you; we promised you that we'd take you to your DK Island... as a thank you for all the good you have done for us."
"Hmm, and why don't you talk to the others about that?" Dixie replied. "You pretended to be good with us, and in the end, you wanted to take us for fools; that's not what friends do. So... at least I hope you have also mentioned the good things we did with you."
"Of course, we also tell them about all the good you've done for us," Jenny replied, looking at them with some melancholy. "Please... Excuse us."
"No, no. Get it," Diddy added, sighing. "We are not going to go with you. If you want, go on adventures with your old friends on that ship... But we won't accompany you anymore."
"B-but... it won't be the same without you," Ricky said sadly. "On that trip we'll miss you very much. You have given us good times, we have had a lot of fun, you complemented our group, you gave us your friendship as no one had done with us. Please... W-we promise you that this time we'll change and do things right."
"You told us the same thing last time," Diddy said, rolling his eyes. "And just look how it went."
"Don't you feel pity for... leave us and not be our friends anymore?" Melvyn added with a melancholy look, and then the other three put on the same face.
Both Diddy and Dixie, deep down, wanted them to accept everything they were told and leave, but with those expressions it only generated feelings of guilt, even though the bad guys were the four of them. Even so, they didn't want to be won over by compassion at that time and had to end the whole thing once for all.
"See... we did want to be your friends, really," Dixie told them. "You guys also gave us good times, you made being on this island more fun for us, we were very excited when we met you and we had every intention of keeping your friendship even when we returned to DK Island... But I see that you don't, you didn't see us that way, you were never real with us."
"And if you ask if we don't feel sorry, well…" Diddy added. "Yes... Yes, we feel sorry, but you also know everything you did to us. So... I'm sorry, but while we may pity you, we don't want to join you anymore."
"Let's just make this clear, okay?" Dixie concluded. "This is over on our part. But still... I hope you do well, especially on your trip, and have a lot of fun... I'm sure you'll have a great time. And be careful with the water, by the way."
With that said, Diddy and Dixie turned around again and, without further ado, began to climb the stairs.
"Hey, no!" Melvyn exclaimed, stopping them again along with the other three as they continued to apologize. "Please don't leave. We'll be better with you, we promise!"
"Don't leave us, you're our friends!" Mandy added along with the others. "And we made the ship for you."
"Dixie… Do you want to talk?" Jenny asked Dixie with a forced smile and holding her arm. But Dixie just looked at her weirdly, and let go of her in a bad face.
"Please forgive us!" Ricky continued pleading with them.
"Hey, please, enough is enough!" Diddy replied, calming them down. "Please understand that it's not. With everything you did, this has no fix."
Diddy and Dixie let go of them and started climbing the ladder again.
"Wait!" Ricky exclaimed, to which they both turned again, their patience almost exhausted. "Really... not anymore?"
"No, friends," Diddy replied before pausing suddenly as he said 'friends'. "We won't go... Goodbye... and have a good trip."
Diddy and Dixie went up to the house, while the four of them just stared at them for a long time with sad faces when they saw that their great friendship they had had with the two had completely ended. With nothing else to do, the four began to walk away from the house, but not before turning to see them for one last time to Diddy and Dixie and, at the same time, the two of them also did the same.
Diddy and Dixie turned again and entered the house. Both couldn't deny that they felt somewhat sad about that farewell, even though it was the best thing they could do with those kids after all.
"Oh... don't you feel sorry or something?" Dixie asked with a low look.
"Well... I wish I didn't feel it... Maybe a little," Diddy replied after sighing. "But we couldn't do anything else with them; they would continue to hurt us."
"Even so... I hope they do well," Dixie added, trying to smile. "And above all, that they learn to be better friends. Perhaps they lack much learning about, after all."
"I think I'll miss them... Although I'll miss more the version I believed in when we met them."
Then, they both continued to tidy up the room while also thinking about everything they had done with their now past group of friends. They remembered from the first day that they met them, where they had been rescued and showed themselves as poor itinerant children, where soon they had become close friends with both of them, which moved them very much; they shared nice moments, they went out almost daily to play with them, they shared jokes and anecdotes, they had been a little happier to be on Hurricane Island, they believed that this friendship would be worth it... But with the latest events, the opposite was proven and, although they had already been given a second chance, they didn't know how to cherish it and things only got worse. Diddy and Dixie had treated them the best they could, but now they just thought that maybe not everyone they help and call "friends" would return the same treatment.
Later, and trying to put the issue aside, Diddy and Dixie decided to also clean Mr. Pinky's house, since he had already been away for four days. They had to be very careful, for he had several delicate ornaments in his house, which he kept with extreme care. A few minutes later, they had finished sorting everything.
"I'm sure Mr. Pinky will like it," said Diddy, observing the whole room around.
"When will he come back?"
"This week, according to what their letter said... By the way, Dix, it's only three weeks away, and we can return to DK Island!" he added, jumping with excitement.
"Hey, it's true!" Dixie replied again, smiling well. "There's very little left."
"And in the end, it wasn't that much time we had left on this island," Diddy added, smiling too, before jumping in excitement again. "We'll be back!"
"Yeah!" Dixie exclaimed, giving Diddy a quick hug. "I can't wait any longer, I already want to put my feet on the sand of DK Island, I want to see my house again and my sister and cousins."
"Same with me," Diddy added, smiling. "I want to see that island and eat the bananas from the reserve again. I want to see Donkey, I want to see them all, even Cranky."
"By the way, he and Wrinkly must be there by now," Dixie said, before smiling more calmly. "Oh, I just hope everyone is well, and that they know how to wait for us."
"Obviously they must be very worried, but I want to see their faces when they see us again," Diddy added in the same way.
"Oh, Diddy…" Dixie said, changing to a low expression suddenly. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to cause all this and for us to end up on this island."
"No, don't worry anymore, Dix, everything will be fixed," Diddy replied, placing a hand on her shoulder and looking at her confidently. "And there are only three weeks left, we'll be back on DK Island safe and sound, we'll see everyone again, and this time we'll report those four bullies from school... Well, three if Jemky maybe is... you already know."
"Oh, and don't remind me of that," Dixie said before looking worried. "I don't even know whether to wish he had survived or not."
"First we'll have to find out as soon as we return to DK Island... But hey, we'll just have to wait these three weeks."
"And that's fine, I just want to think that we'll make it safely to DK Island in the first place," Dixie finished smiling a little.
Then, both went out for a while to the porch of the house to look outside, as they used to do after long days.
"Hey, Dixie, I was thinking if maybe... we could go out, you know, a date just the two of us."
"Why not? We haven't gone out like that for days," Dixie replied with a few small laughs. "Well, what do we do?"
"I don't know yet, we'd have to think about it," he replied thoughtfully.
"I think I have an idea. How about we make it like a surprise?" Dixie suggested after thinking about it. "I mean, we're both living in this house, but what if we make some surprise detail and meet somewhere?"
"Sounds great," Diddy replied, smiling. "And where would we meet?"
"Well... I'll leave that to you," Dixie said with a defiant look.
"What? Why me?" Diddy exclaimed in confusion. "But whatever?"
"Yes, whatever, any place that's nice," Dixie replied with a small laugh. "And I'll give you a gift and you'll make one for me, just like the one you tried to give me last time, what do you think? Of course, everything will be a surprise."
"Okay, it sounds good," Diddy nodded cheerfully. "How about tomorrow? We'll prepare it between morning and afternoon, and in the sunset hours we'll meet."
"Yes, it seems fine to me."
"And this time there will be no carnivorous plants involved," Diddy commented before laughing a little, and then Dixie joined in the laughter as well. "Oh, no, but what kind of friends did we have?"
They both went down to their room again, until later, Dixie came to mind a little off-topic idea.
"By the way, Diddy," she said after a while. "Do you remember Mr. Pinky's letter?... Do you really not think that letters can be sent to DK Island right now?"
"I don't know, Dix. DK Island is too far from here, and with those hurricanes I don't think a letter will arrive."
"But what if it can?" Dixie added, cheerful. "I want to go and see; don't you want to come with me?"
"Hey, are you sure?" Diddy questioned with a look of strangeness. "It's that it doesn't look possible now, Dixie."
"We'll just see if we can. We'll be able to let everyone there know we're okay!" Dixie said excitedly, waving him an arm. "Come on, what do you say?"
"Do you think it's a good idea?" Diddy asked, still questioning it.
"Come on, at least to ask," Dixie added with a look of pleading.
"Oh, well, okay. We'll see if it turns out," Diddy replied after thinking about it for a while and shrugging. "In Mr. Pinky's letter I think is the address of that post office, let's see it."