Chapter 38 Tell Me Everything

An awkwardness that Pom Pom had never experienced before overcame her. After all three of them recovered from the shock of the shadow wolf attack, Viv couldn't and/or wouldn't take her eyes off her old friend. There were quite a few emotions visible on her face, ranging from shock and surprise to uncertainty and sadness. Pom Pom felt many different emotions too. She couldn't move from her spot. At this moment, all that existed was her and Viv.

"I can't believe it's actually you," said Viv. She floated an inch closer to Pom Pom, reaching out her hand as if to touch her, before stopping. She stood in place and cringed. Pom Pom's stomach churned. She couldn't look at Viv, she couldn't look away from Viv, she couldn't do anything. The emotions she was dealing with were so overwhelming that she was close to having a panic attack.

And then Viv sniffled. Pom Pom looked at her old friend as she dried some tears from her eyes. And honestly, the sight of this triggered an emotional response from Pom Pom as well. Tears welled in her eyes, which she did everything in her power to wipe away.

"Viv…" Pom Pom stopped. She hesitated, unable to find the right words. There were so many things she wanted to say yet she didn't have the right words for any of them. Right as she thought things couldn't get any more confusing, Viv reached out and pulled Pom Pom into a hug. She gasped as Viv squeezed her.

"I missed you, Pom Pom." Viv squeezed tighter, the tears streaming even faster. "I missed you so much."

Those pained whispers made Pom Pom's mind reel. Viv MISSED her? She actually MISSED her?

"I thought I'd never see you again." Viv pulled herself out of the hug and examined Pom Pom from head to toe. "You grew up. You… you're beautiful."

Pom Pom felt so weak. All at once she was six years old all over again, being bullied for being ugly and wishing that someone would be able to find her pretty. The emotions she felt threatened to consume her. If it weren't for the fact that Wendy was right there to act as an anchor, Pom Pom would probably have a mental breakdown right here, right now. All the excitement she felt before was gone, replaced with anger.

"Viv." Pom Pom put on a serious face, one that was right on the border of a glare. "You have a LOT of explaining to do."

Viv's face fell. She looked between Pom Pom and Wendy as if she was stuck. She cringed, she whimpered, and she looked like she was minutes away from curling into a ball. Pom Pom should probably feel bad for her, but honestly? After everything she went through thanks to Viv specifically? She wasn't going to do that. She couldn't do that. She didn't want to feel bad for Viv. All she wanted were the answers.

"I…" Viv cringed again, actually looking like she was in physical pain. "I guess I do, don't I?"

Pom Pom gripped her hands into fists. "Yes. And I am not going to let you rest until you give me the answers I want." She stepped forward. She noticed Wendy looking afraid in the corner of her eye, but she ignored her. "Why the FUCK did you leave me? Why did you do ANY of this?"

Viv shook. She took in a shaky breath. "I…"

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE? DO YOU KNOW WHAT I HAD TO GO THROUGH AFTER YOU LEFT?" She stepped closer to her old friend. "It is literally taking every ounce of self-control I have to not PUNCH YOUR LIGHTS OUT…!"

"Pom Pom!" Wendy reached forward and placed her hand on Pom Pom's shoulder. "Pom Pom, calm down. Step back and take deep breaths." Realizing that she needed to heed Wendy's advice, she did just that. It didn't calm her down though. Nothing could. But, at the very least, she had a better sense of control over herself.

"Good." Wendy turned to Viv. "Now, Viv, we would really appreciate it if you could explain things to us. Tell us everything; don't leave anything out."

Viv nodded. "I will be happy to do that, but first…" she hesitated before sighing. "You guys must've come a long way. Would you mind if I made some tea and cookies for you?"

Pom Pom was about to say no way, but honestly, that was the LEAST Viv should be doing for her. Might as well allow her to do the least.

…

Pom Pom tapped her fingers against Viv's dining room table. Wendy sat beside her, looking uncomfortable. She fidgeted with her bracelets before looking at Pom Pom.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Pom Pom sniffed. "I don't know."

Wendy nodded and looked down at the table. She cringed as the scent of cookies wafted in through the door. "I can't even imagine what…" she stopped before she could finish her sentence, but Pom Pom knew exactly what she was going to say.

"You can't even imagine what I'm going through. Honestly, good for you." Pom Pom placed her hands on her lap. "I don't want you to know."

Wendy bit her lip. "Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?"

Pom Pom scowled. "No. I just want the answers."

Right at that moment, Viv came into the room carrying a tray. On said tray was a plate of cookies, three teacups, a bowl of sugar and a carton of half and half. As she sat it down, Pom Pom took notice of the oven mitts she wore. They looked homemade. Did Viv crochet them? Did she still keep up with the hobby Pom Pom introduced to her? That would make sense given what she saw from Viv's time with Bink, but even still... oh God, Pom Pom's head was spinning.

"Well," Viv said as she sat down. "How do you guys like your tea?"

"Cream and sugar is good for me," Wendy said.

"Good." She turned to Pom Pom. "What about you Pom…"

"I'll just have it black," Pom Pom interrupted with the scowl still on her face.

Viv shrunk back a little bit. "Okay." She fixed Wendy's tea and handed Pom Pom her own teacup. Wendy was able to take some sips pretty much immediately, but Pom Pom just stared down into hers. She saw her reflection on the surface of the tea, and her scowl was so dark she almost looked like a completely different person.

"Would you two like some cookies!" Viv asked. Wendy nodded, and she handed one to her. As Wendy took careful bites, Viv turned back to Pom Pom. "Uh… what about you?"

"I'm good," Pom Pom said, biting her lip and restraining herself extra hard.

Viv sighed. "Alright." She cringed. "That's probably for the best. I'm honestly not much of a baker." As if to further confirm that sentence, Wendy's nose wrinkled in disgust as she chewed her own cookie.

Pom Pom sighed. "No, Viv. I don't want cookies; I want us to stop beating around the bush." She directed her scowl at her old friend. "I have waited ten years. Ten. Fucking. Years. I'm sick and tired of the wait. I want the answers now."

Viv sniffled again. "Yes. I… I can do that. After what I did to you… you deserve that much."

Pom Pom looked straight at Viv. Oh, if only she knew how right she was.

"So… do you remember what happened the last time I spoke to you, with you telling me to stand up to my sisters?"

"Of course I do," Pom Pom said, her voice brimming with bitterness. "I remember everything we went through together, for better or for ill."

"Well…" Viv started to fidget with her own fingers. "When I went back to my sisters after that happened, I decided to take your advice. I wanted to go stand up to them and tell them they had no right to control and belittle me like they did. And… it didn't go well. In fact, when they discovered that these emotions were inspired by a conversation I had with a friend, they told me to never speak with you again or they would… kill both you and me."

That felt like a punch in the stomach. Pom Pom stared at Viv for a good forty seconds, feeling lost and saddened. Of course, Viv wasn't anywhere close to done. Viv had only covered a little bit. Pom Pom wanted her to tell her everything.

"And so, for the next two months, they kept their eyes on me twenty-four seven. They didn't dare let me leave their sight, and they got even more controlling and violent than ever before. They would do anything to show that they had power over me; they'd physically hurt me, they threatened to kill me, and they tortured me in every way possible. It was… it was hell. It really was."

Pom Pom stayed silent. Part of her wanted to feel sympathetic towards Viv. Part of her felt guilty that she didn't.

"That's awful," Wendy said. "I'm so sorry."

Viv took in a shaky breath. "You… don't have to be sorry." She hesitated. "At the same time that this happened, they were moving forward with their big plan, the plan that had been in the works for centuries. They wanted to drown the planet in darkness and enslave it for the sake of the Shadow Queen. I of course didn't want to do that, but because they had so much power over me, I couldn't refuse." She paused. "At least, at first."

Pom Pom lifted her head. Admittedly, her curiosity was piqued by that sentence.

"I remembered the words you had said to me, Pom Pom." Viv looked Pom Pom in the eye. Unlike before, Pom Pom let her. "You always encouraged me to be my own self. You always said that what my sisters said about me wasn't true, that it didn't matter. When I hung around you, you made me feel stronger. You made me believe I was stronger. My sisters tried to extinguish those feelings, and for two months, they seemed to have succeeded. But… they didn't. Because after that two month period, I realized you were right. I was stronger than they said. They couldn't control me. I didn't even care if they wanted to kill me; I wasn't going to let them hurt me again. And I especially wasn't going to let them hurt the Mushroom World either."

Pom Pom's heart rate sped up. She didn't take her eyes off Viv.

"And so, I fought back. It was a gruesome fight, but I stood my ground. They had forced me to increase my magical power to take over the Mushroom World with them, a process I hated every minute of. But I soon realized that I could use that to my advantage. At the end of the fight, I trapped and sealed my sisters in a magical box. That way, it would be impossible for them to enact their evil plans."

A silence overcame the room. Wendy's jaw dropped as what Viv said sank into Pom Pom. "So.. wait. If you and I never interacted… the Mushroom World would've fallen a decade ago?" Viv nodded, and when she did, Pom Pom felt stunned. She put her hand to her pounding heart. "Oh my God." She sat in place for a little bit, mulling over that revolutionary fact, before the frown appeared back on her face. "But… wait, why didn't you try to come back to me after you took care of your sisters? They couldn't hurt anyone anymore."

"You're right; they couldn't. And, well.., I tried to return to you."

Pom Pom gasped, her eyes growing wide. "You did?" she squeaked.

"Yes. I made the long journey back to the woods where we met. I made my way around the town you lived in, but… you were nowhere to be seen."

Pom Pom felt a pang. "Oh…" she of course knew why Viv hadn't been able to find her. Her family had moved back to the Koopa Kingdom pretty quickly after Pom Pom told them about Viv. This was partially because Boom Boom had been called back home as a soldier but mostly because… they wanted to go to a place where Pom Pom could receive the best psychiatric treatment possible.

Pom Pom looked down at the table. A dark feeling made itself known. It was worse than shame, worse than depression, worse than despair. No words could describe it. Absolutely none.

"And…" Viv whimpered. "It was the worst feeling I had ever experienced, not being able to find you. I… I…" Viv let out a little cry. "I'm sorry." She wiped the tears away. "I'm really sorry. I didn't know where you were, I didn't know what happened to you, I…" Viv shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Pom Pom."

Pom Pom's scowl fell away, replaced with tears. "Viv…" she sighed. "I don't know how to feel about this." She looked back at her. "I have spent the last ten years thinking I was insane. My parents told me you didn't exist when I told them about you, and I believed them. I went to med doc after med doc, believing that I was crazy, that I was insane! And when I found out they were wrong, I was…" she stood up as Viv gave her a look of horror. "How could I not feel angry about that? After everything that happened, after everything I lost.., I almost WANTED you to be evil! At least that way, I could pin the blame entirely on you. But then, I learned about your time with Bink. And now this? After hearing this, I… I…" Pom Pom cried a little. She wiped a ton of tears from her face, feeling like her entire world was crashing down on top of her. "I… I need some air."

With that, she made her way outside. She only barely heard Viv whimpering as she closed the door behind her.