Chapter 41: That's What Friends Are For

In the late sunset hours, Diddy and Dixie were in their room. Dixie was sitting in her hammock while brushing her hair and, on the other hand, there was Diddy reading some comic magazines that Mr. Pinky had lent them.

Later, Diddy realized that the sun was setting and the time when he had to go to the caves with Ricky and Melvyn was approaching. He would have to tell Dixie that he would go out with them without sounding very obvious that he was planning a surprise for her.

"Hey, Dixie," Diddy called her, getting up and heading toward her. "Well... it's just now I'll go out with Ricky and Melvyn to explore some caves. Can you tell Mr. Pinky that I'll come back a little later?"

"Okay, Diddy," Dixie replied as she continued to brush her hair. "Are the three of you going for a walk?"

"Yes, you know, another 'boys only' outing."

"Okay," Dixie said, smiling. But suddenly, she showed herself with a worried face as if she had something to say. "Uhh... hey, Diddy, but... don't take so long, please. It's just... I'm still afraid."

"About nightmares?" Diddy asked, to which Dixie nodded with the same fearful look as the night before. "No, you keep calm, Dix. It's impossible for those school fools to know where we are; remember we got here in a storm. There is no danger for now."

Diddy stayed for a moment thinking about what Dixie said. He wanted to tell her that he was preparing a surprise gift to cheer her up, but at the same time, he couldn't because it was a surprise. Instead, he just sat next to her and hugged her for a while, so she would feel less worried.

"We'll be fine, Dix. Just think about how happy we're also going to be when we return to DK Island, okay?" Diddy said before giving her a kiss on the cheek and smiling to give her more security. "Now, I have to go. See you later, Dixie."

"See you later, Diddy," Dixie replied, smiling a little. "Have fun."

Diddy left the house, but not before turning to look at Dixie again and saying goodbye once again in the distance. Then, he came down from the house and went to meet his new friends. The reason why he wanted to give an emerald to Dixie was as a gesture of returning the emerald that she had given him, since that stone had been stolen by the group of evil children from the school and who knows now where they would have it or what they would have done with it.

Diddy walked for a while, and arrived at the house of his new friends. There were the four of them at home, but only Ricky and Melvyn got out, since it was a mission only for boys as they had agreed.

"How are you, Diddy?" the two boys said cheerfully as they came down from their house. "Are you ready to go?"

"Of course," Diddy replied in kind. "Well, are we leaving right now?"

The three of them started on their way and headed towards the cave that the two kong children had mentioned. It was already getting dark, so they took some torches with them.

They walked for only a quarter of an hour; that cave wasn't that far away after all. Until later, they arrived and entered. It was an underground cave, so they had to go down carefully not to slip. The cave was not that big, but it had several corners filled with gemstones of various kinds that emitted bright flashes. It seemed to be a perfect place to look for any stone quickly.

"The emeralds are over there. Come this way," Ricky pointed toward one direction in the cave.

The three of them kept walking until they came to where the emeralds were and began to inspect them. Diddy wanted to find one that was as close as possible to the one Dixie had given him: that emerald was a bright and dark green color. But most of the emeralds that were there, were very clear and didn't shine as much.

"Are you looking for a specific kind, Diddy?" Ricky asked him as he looked at each of the emeralds.

"Well... one kind that is a dark green color," Diddy replied as he examined one in his hands.

"Hmm, do you mean a deep green emerald?" Melvyn asked curiously.

"Yeah, that kind!"

"Ohh, those are super hard to find, you know?" Ricky commented. "And I don't think there are any here."

"Oh, I need one of those," Diddy said with some frustration. "Dixie gave me one but it already got lost and I wanted to return it to her. Those bad kids from school stole it."

"But you can take any of the ones here too," Melvyn said, cheering him up along with Ricky. "I'm sure she'll like it anyway."

"This one is not bad, for example," Ricky added, showing him an emerald from the cave, although Diddy was not entirely convinced.

The three stayed longer looking for a similar emerald, but could not find it. So, Diddy had no choice and had to take one of the common emeralds that were there. He took one that wasn't that deep green, but it was the darkest shade in that cave.

Later, the three of them left the cave and headed back to the house of the four. Diddy still had to prepare Dixie's gift and, as Melvyn and Ricky had mentioned to him, the girls could help him with that. He just hoped it wouldn't take too long, since he didn't want to leave Dixie alone after she had those nightmares the night before.

Diddy, along with Melvyn and Ricky, arrived at their house, but the two boys had to leave because they said they had to look for food for the next day, so Diddy was the only one who went up to their house. When he opened the door, Jenny and Mandy came out to meet him and greet him.

"Hi, Diddy, how are you?!" the girls said with joy.

"Hi, girls," Diddy replied in kind.

"What brought you here?" Jenny asked, smiling.

"Well, I wanted to ask you something," Diddy replied.

"Ahh, what gift could you give Dixie about?" Mandy asked.

"Yes, how do you know?"

"Melvyn and Ricky told us you were planning to give Dixie a surprise gift," Jenny replied before taking his arm. "Come, we'll help you."

Diddy entered the house and followed his friends. Looking around, he was surprised when in almost the entire room there were a lot of flowers of different species and, on the other hand, there were some jars full of candies... Diddy was somewhat confused at that, as he didn't expect it.

"Oh, by the way, Diddy," Jenny said as she took some of the flowers and showed them to Diddy. "This afternoon we were collecting all these flowers so you can see which ones Dixie may like."

"And besides, we brought these sweets too," Mandy added, showing him one of the jars. "There are chewing gums as Dixie likes."

"Oh… great," Diddy replied, smiling, still confused at the scene. "And... where did you get these sweets?"

"We made them," Mandy replied, smiling. "Yes, we know how to make them."

"And so, we were thinking that you could give Dixie a box," Jenny suggested excitedly. "You know, those that carry flowers, candies, and of course: love notes. Girls love those details."

"Okay. But how would I hide such a gift so that Dixie doesn't find out yet?" Diddy asked.

"Don't worry," replied Mandy. "If you want, we can have it here and then you'll come to pick it up again when you want to deliver it to her."

"Okay, girls. I really thank you," Diddy said, smiling again. "Hey, and I got an idea: how about if the six of us go to the animal shelter tomorrow? You two will distract Dixie while I'll return here with Ricky and Melvyn to pick the gift up, and then give it to Dixie."

"I think it's a good plan!" Jenny said with emotion. "I'm sure Dixie will like it a lot."

"Hey, Diddy, but... what is that shelter like?" Mandy asked, looking a little fearful.

"Don't worry, all the animals there are good," Diddy told them. "And as we told you, some are even our friends."

"Well, so, there is no need to fear," Jenny replied with a shrug. "So, how about we start?"

The two kong girls began to help Diddy assemble the surprise gift for Dixie. Diddy was a novice to that kind of thing, so it didn't be bad to get help from the girls. Had he been under normal circumstances, Diddy was sure that his best friend who could help him in that type of gifts would be Donkey; he remembered how he was with Candy about gifts, but Donkey wasn't around at that time.

The three of them were assembling a box that could be detached by removing the lid. Inside it, Diddy made small, quick drawings about Dixie and himself. Then, they filled the box with various flowers and some candies, mostly chewing gum, as these were Dixie's favorite candies. And of course, the emerald could not be missing. Finally, they put some decorative details with branches and colored leaves.

"It's almost finished, and it's looking really cute," Mandy said as they finished assembling the box.

"I hope Dixie likes it," Diddy said, imagining Dixie's joyful reaction.

"Of course, she'll like it," Jenny added. "And much more if it's a gift from you, Diddy."

The three kids finished giving some last details to the gift box, which increased the excitement in Diddy to know how Dixie would get... Although minutes later, he remembered her situation.

"Hey, I think I have to leave," Diddy said, looking up at the sky through the window. "It's getting late."

"Only the letters left, Diddy, aren't you going to put them on it?" Jenny asked.

"I'll write those later and bring them tomorrow," Diddy replied, getting up. "It's that Dixie was feeling a little scared because of some nightmares she had, and I don't want to leave her like that until very late."

"Oh, you're so good to her," Mandy said with a tone of tenderness. "You guys are so adorable together."

"Yeah, you're both a cute little couple," Jenny added in the same tone. "You're our favorite couple!"

"Oh, thank you, girls," Diddy replied, blushing a little. "You don't know how long I waited for her."

Jenny and Mandy made gestures of tenderness upon hearing Diddy talk about Dixie. Then the door was knocked as familiar voices could be heard outside.

"Oh, Melvyn and Ricky have arrived," Mandy said, standing up.

Mandy headed to open the door and help the two boys with what they had brought, while Jenny continued to help Diddy finish assembling the box and collecting the remains.

"I really appreciate everything, you're good friends," Diddy told her as he settled the box.

"It's nothing, Diddy. That's what we're here for," Jenny replied kindly while smiling at him. "Wow... how lucky Dixie must be to have a boyfriend like you."

"Of course," Diddy said, smiling. "And I feel lucky to have her, too."

Diddy then walked to the door and met Melvyn and Ricky again, and explained the plan to go to the animal shelter, which would take place the next day.

"I really thank you, friends, seriously," Diddy said, smiling at the four of them before leaving. "Don't forget, we'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, buddy. That's what we're here for," Ricky replied, patting him on the shoulder. "And count on us for tomorrow."

"See you later, Diddy!" the four of them told them.

"See you later!" Diddy replied.

Diddy finished saying goodbye to them and finally left for Mr. Pinky's house. He was happy that he would finally have a gift ready for Dixie, and he just hoped to see her smile the moment she received it... although he also hoped that Dixie would be fine at that very moment due to the nightmares she had had the night before, so he quickened his steps to get home.

In their respective room, Dixie was sleeping in her hammock in comfort. When suddenly, she heard someone knocking on the door and suddenly woke up. She guessed it was Diddy, so she got up to open it to meet him.

"Hi, Diddy, it's good that you've arrived-"

"Which Diddy?! It's me, pretty!" Jemky appeared abruptly entering the house.

Instantly, Dixie's pulse raced and she screamed loudly as she ran into the house, and then began throwing any object at Jemky as he chased after her. She decided to escape from there and tried to get out the window, but not before being stopped by Jemky, who also carried a gun and pointed it at her.

"Not so fast, Dixie! Still or I'll shoot!" Jemky ordered, grabbing her arm and pointing at her. "Now you and the monkey are going to pay me for trying to kill me!"

Jemky, without further thought, proceeded to shoot Dixie, to which she screamed in terror.

"Dixie!"

Dixie opened her eyes instantly upon hearing Diddy's voice, who was right where she had seen Jemky a few seconds ago in another of her nightmares. Dixie realized that she had only dreamed again and was again lying in the hammock, still shaky and nervous.

"Oh, Dixie, don't tell me again" Diddy asked, approaching Dixie worriedly.

"Yes…" Dixie replied, getting up and still trembling. "I slept for a while so I wouldn't think about it, but... I dreamed about it."

"Don't worry, nothing happened. Everything is fine," Diddy said, hugging her to calm her down.

"Oh, Diddy… I'm really afraid," Dixie exclaimed, distraught. "What if those fools plan to hurt us as soon as we meet again?"

"Oh, no, no, Dixie," Diddy exclaimed, trying to reassure her. "We don't know anything about them now, but we'll be more careful when we return to DK Island, even this time we'll report them and seek help from others to have more support."

Dixie stood thoughtfully and with a lowered look. Then, Diddy stared straight at her as he remembered something he might say to Dixie to try to calm her down.

"Do you know anything?" Diddy said. "If you still feel scared, you can try to reimagine that same dream, but this time changing the ending. That's what Donkey taught me when I had nightmares too," he added, smiling, before getting serious again when Dixie still hadn't recovered her spirits. "Uh... Well, I know, that won't solve anything, but... at least it can keep you calm in the meantime," Diddy finished, smiling back a little.

"Are you... sure?" Dixie asked again, looking at him.

"I used to do it when I had nightmares about those fools too... And yes, I know, that didn't solve anything, but at least it calmed me down enough to survive every night.

"Really?" Dixie asked again, still not so sure.

"Yes, of course. Even... after that, try to think of ten things that make you happy; that will end up helping you a lot... Or at least it reassured me."

Dixie was only thoughtful for a moment, before Diddy gave her another smile to try to reassure her.

"Well... I could try it the next time I go to sleep," Dixie replied, smiling a little, but still being somewhat fearful.

"Try to do it and tell me how it went, okay?" Diddy said, patting her on the shoulder and smiling at her, to which Dixie smiled as well.

"Hey, Diddy, right... and how did your hang out go?" Dixie asked him after a while.

"We were great; we explored that underground cave I told you," Diddy replied thinking about the gift for Dixie, but at the same time, reserving from wanting to tell her.

Suddenly, someone came through the door, which was semi-closed. At first, Dixie was very frightened, but calmed down seeing who it was.

"What's going on here?!" Mr. Pinky asked them, showing concern. "I thought I heard Miss Dixie screaming."

"Nothing happened, Mr. Pinky," Dixie replied with a forced smile. "It's just that... I had a nightmare about... Oh, yes, about hurricanes."

"Oh, no, don't worry, guys, hurricanes don't come this far," the teacher replied with a little laughter. "And well, are you okay yet, Miss Dixie?"

"Y-yes, yes, of course," Dixie replied, trying to keep herself smiling. "Only at the end of my dream the hurricane swallowed us, that's why I think it was that I screamed. But it's past."

"Oh, all right," the teacher replied with a calm smile. "And well, I wanted to tell you that the special dinner of the week is ready for you to go up."

Mr. Pinky left the room, while Diddy and Dixie stayed for a few more minutes until Dixie could completely calm down. Diddy really wanted to tell Dixie that he had a gift to cheer her up a bit, but he shouldn't do it just yet or he would ruin the surprise.

"Oh, right, Dixie," Diddy said as he headed with Dixie to dinner, "I had told our friends to all go to the animal shelter tomorrow, what do you think?"

"Great! Will we introduce them to our friends over there?"

"Of course, and then…" Diddy wanted to mention the surprise gift, but at the same time he couldn't. "Ahh, yes, then we can go somewhere else," he finished with a smile, before continuing to walk towards the stairs.