A/N: Gift fic for Puppii, please check them out! This is an AU where Davy lives and there's a happy ending :D
It had been months, but sometimes it felt like days, and sometimes it felt like years.
Todd found himself staring over the ocean, the sunlight lighting up the waves. It was stunning. Todd thought about the Mayor as he fell into its depths, nothing more than a snack for a creature below.
He closed his eyes. There was no noise out here, for a change. Then again, there was noise he'd gotten used to. And for others, the lack of noise. In simple words, it was weird being all alone.
He swallowed. He wished he could sort out his feelings about the Mayor, about the Spackle, about anything, but his own noise swarmed around him, drowning him, and he had to look away. He didn't want to be alone anymore.
He heard footsteps behind him, and breathed out in relief. Sure, Viola had no noise, but he'd gotten so used to her that he didn't need noise to understand her, to feel her when she was nearby.
"Out here again?" she asked. She observed his noise, raising an eyebrow. "That… that makes sense. Mistress Coyle, I… feel the same way about her."
Todd gritted his teeth. "I ain't forgivin' him, but…"
"I know," Viola told him, reaching and holding his wrist. "All we can do is move forward. Besides…"
She trailed off. Noise sang through the air. It was a familiar sound, calling out for Todd and Viola.
"Davy," Todd waved.
Davy grinned back, his noise questioning why do they look so sad and why are they here and is that my fa-
"Yeah," Todd confirmed. "We were… um, thinkin' 'bout him, s'all."
Davy looked away. His noise struggled to hide thoughts of the Mayor, but Todd saw slips of them, slips of pain and sorrow and nightmares.
Viola turned towards him. "Davy…"
"'Tis fine," Davy said, crossing his arms. His noise tried to settle down, but Todd kept seeing the Mayor, falling to his death, over and over.
Todd reached out, "Davy-"
"C'mon, pigpiss," Davy turned to Todd, "no point stayin' out here."
He was smiling, his arms twitching. Todd grimaced. For his own sanity, he also tried to ignore Davy's noise, as fruitless as that was.
"You miss him," Viola said, stepping forward.
"I-" Davy spluttered, noise swirling. "It's- It's- it's confusin'! Can we talk about somethin' else?!"
"I miss him too," Todd admitted. "I mean, not the same way as Cillian but…"
"It's not fair," Davy's noise turned dark, swirling thoughts of bitterness, resentment, years of waiting and waiting for affection that never came. "We shouldn't be wastin' time on him like this."
"It's okay to miss him a little," Viola told him, gently. "He was your father. He was part of your life for so long. So… it's normal to miss that." She paused. "I'm not saying you should forgive him. I don't forgive Mistress Coyle, but you shouldn't feel bad about missing him."
Todd nodded. As usual, she'd hit the nail on the head.
Davy swallowed, turning away. Todd reached out, gently grabbing his shoulder. Davy pulled him into a tight hug, knocking the breath out of him. Davy's noise was suddenly full of affection and understanding and love. It swarmed over the pain, for just a brief moment. Todd's own noise settled down, into something more peaceful, something more relaxed. He felt okay.
"Look at us, pigpiss," Davy told Todd, "we got out. We made it."
And Todd swore he could've seen tears leaking from Davy's eyes. He slowly returned the hug, their noises holding each other, swirling around. He grinned at Viola, inviting her with a small nod, his noise reaching out. She joined in, and the three held each other.
"We survived the war."
