Chapter 22

Oliver had been asleep that night when he suddenly woke up and sat up, something telling him to go check on his papa. He couldn't ignore it and he got out of bed, quickly moving down the hallway and to his parents' room. He pushed open the door and looked inside to see only his papa in the room. He then remembered that his dad had to work late that night and had mentioned he probably wouldn't be back until past midnight.

The boy went up to the bed and saw his papa tossing and turning, breathing rapidly and clutching the blankets. "N-No," he whimpered and flinched as if something was hurting him.

Oliver realized his papa was having a bad dream and he jumped up on the bed, going up to his papa and gently shaking his shoulders. "Papa!" He said urgently. "Papa!"

Fizz woke up with a scream, scaring Oliver, who jumped back in surprise before the jester's scream died off and he was breathing hard before his hands clutched at his heart and he let out a sigh of relief, though tears were gathered in his eyes.

"Papa?" The boy asked worriedly.

Fizz turned to see Oliver looking at him in concern. "Noodle?" He asked, his voice rough from sleep and from screaming. "How long have you been here?"

"I had a feeling that I needed to check on you and when I came in, you were having a bad dream," the boy signed. "I tried to wake you, but you woke up screaming."

"Oh," the jester said softly, feeling a bit embarrassed that his son had seen him caught in a nightmare. "Sorry if I scared you, kiddo."

"It's okay, Papa," the boy said before looking thoughtful. "I didn't know grown-ups could have bad dreams too."

Fizz chuckled gently. "Yeah, grown-ups can have bad dreams too," he said as Oliver climbed into his lap and the jester hugged his son. "Your dad and I sometimes get them."

"Why?" The child asked.

The jester shrugged. "Stress sometimes can cause nightmares, or a scary incident and sometimes...it can be from a past incident," he said.

Oliver looked up at him and grew curious, to which Fizz smiled gently. "A long time ago, Oliver, I was in a circus," he began. "I could do all sorts of tricks. I can still do them now, but back then...I didn't have these."

He held up his hands. "I had real limbs like you, Noodle," he continued. "But...one day, there was a really bad fire at the circus. I tried to escape, but ended up running into some fireworks. The fireworks went off and threw me back aways." He paused, taking a deep breath and swallowing hard. "I was badly burned in that fire and unfortunately, I lost my arms and my legs due to that fire."

The child looked saddened to learn that and Fizz reached up, removing his jester cap to reveal his broken horns. Oliver gasped in shock and reached up for his own, hugging his father, who hugged him back. "I'm okay now," he said. "But it was a long road to heal from that fire. It's the reason my face is permanently white save for my nose. The clown nose I had on was the only thing that saved my nose from becoming scarred like my face and a lot of my body."

He looked away for a moment. "For years, I thought someone that I thought of as a best friend was responsible for the fire," he said.

"Why?" The boy asked.

Fizz looked ashamed. "I was unfortunately misled by someone else I thought I could trust," he said. "And it led to a friendship being broken and a lot of misplaced blame for many years."

Oliver hugged Fizz, who appreciated the comfort from his son. "Did you find the truth?" The boy signed.

"Yes," the jester said. "You remember when I told you about Crimson being wrong about your dad?"

The boy nodded. "Well, Crimson was responsible for me being kidnapped," Fizz continued. "But just like how your uncle Blitz saved you, he saved me too. And in doing so, we both realized we had been lied to."

Understanding dawned on Oliver's face. "You were mad at Uncle Blitz? He started the fire?" He asked.

"Not intentionally," Fizz said gently. "The fire was truly an accident and Uncle Blitz unfortunately lost someone very close to him in that fire. His mom, who was like a mom to me too." He smiled. "She would have loved you as her grandson."

Oliver smiled before looking sad. "Someone lied to Uncle Blitz too? Was it the same person who lied to you?"

"Unfortunately, yes," the jester said sadly. "When your uncle and I realized that, your uncle did everything to keep me safe and we began mending our friendship again. It's one of the reasons we hang out a lot, to make up for lost time."

He gently ruffled his son's hair. "And it's why I called him when Striker had kidnapped you. I trusted your uncle would rescue you and he did."

He sighed. "Even though your uncle and I have mended our friendship, the nightmares still get me sometimes. Usually your dad is here and he can keep them away, but now and again, the nightmares do bug me."

The boy snuggled up next to his papa, who hugged him and put his jester hat back on. "You know, after the accident, when I was recovering, I met your dad," he said.

"How?" The boy asked.

"Well, you already know Mammon wasn't nice to me. Well, after the accident, he threw me at your dad and demanded your dad make me new limbs." He sighed lightly. "I'm not going to lie, Noodle. I was terrified of your dad when I first met him. What made it worse is that without arms or legs, I couldn't do anything to defend myself or run away."

"But Dad is nice," Oliver signed.

"Yes, but I didn't know that at the time," Fizz said. "I only knew of your dad because of his status and I was scared he'd be just like Mammon, but your dad did something that made me realize that he wasn't like Mammon."

Seeing his son was curious, the jester smiled. "Your dad comforted me," he said. "I fell asleep after crying so much and he just held me, not caring about anything else but me. And he never belittled me or made me feel like a burden. He even insisted I give him my imput on my new limbs."

He stretched one hand out and it circled around the room before the hand reached for Oliver and metal fingers wiggled gently into his neck, making him giggle. "Your dad helped me feel better and helped me learn how to walk again and use my new arms," he continued.

"And that's something I don't regret doing," came Ozzy's voice as he entered the room, a smile on his face. "It's four in the morning, you two. Were you waiting up for me?"

"No," Fizz said. "I had a nightmare about the circus and Oliver came to comfort me."

Ozzy's smile dropped into a look of concern and he moved closer, hugging Fizz. "Oh, Froggie. I'm sorry," he said, feeling guilty he hadn't been there to keep the nightmare away.

"It's okay, big guy," the jester said, smiling as he returned the hug. "It's not your fault."

Oliver hugged his dad and smiled. "You're awesome, Dad," he said. "Just like papa."

Ozzy smiled and hugged his son. "Your papa and I are lucky to have such a thoughtful son," he said.

Fizz smiled before looking worried, which Ozzy noticed. "Unable to go back to sleep?" He said gently.

The jester nodded and Oliver moved closer before getting an idea and crouched down on all fours, his tail wagging in the air. Fizz only had enough time to catch his son as the boy pounced, but then Fizz let out a surprised yelp before laughing as Oliver began tickling his stomach.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOODLE! AHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!" Fizz laughed out before reaching for Ozzy. "OOZY! HEHEHEHEHELP!"

The rooster being smirked. "Hey, Noodle," he said, getting his son's attention. "Tickle your papa's ribs."

The boy grinned and did so, making Fizz's laughter go up an octave. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!" He laughed out as Oliver moved to sit beside his papa while tickling him. Ozzy took the opportunity to blow a big raspberry into Fizz's stomach, which was exposed after his pajama shirt rode up a little in his efforts to escape Oliver's tickles.

Fizz squealed as Ozzy gently pinned down the jester's pajama-clad legs and playfully wound his fingers around Fizz's tail, making him go limp as he continued laughing a bit longer before Oliver stopped the tickle torture and Fizz took a moment to get his breath back before lifting his son up into the air above him, making the boy laugh. "Sneaky," he said with a smile before looking at Ozzy. "And you're in big trouble, mister," he continued, his voice playful.

"Oh, am I?" Ozzy asked in the same playful tone.

Fizz chuckled before a yawn escaped him. Oliver yawned too and Ozzy chuckled. "And that's our cue to get some sleep," he said, going behind the changing curtain in the room and emerging wearing some comfortable pajamas.

Fizz and Oliver scooted over and Ozzy climbed into bed, lifting both his favorite jester and his son onto his chest before pulling up the blankets around them all.

Oliver snuggled close to his papa and dad, another yawn escaping him. "Love you, Papa. Love you, Dad," he said sleepily before falling asleep.

"Love you too, Noodle," Fizz said, smiling as he kissed his son's forehead in affection.

"Ditto," Ozzy said with a smile, gently ruffling his son's hair before gently rubbing Fizz's head and the jester leaned into the touch trustingly, falling asleep moments later. Ozzy followed the two into a sound sleep, the night remaining peaceful and undisturbed as they slept.

A friend of mind suggested this one. :)

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