Chapter 6 Thinking of Her

Was Pom Pom worried about the fact that she was going onto the battlefield so early? Honestly, she didn't know. She did have confidence in her skills, as did the royal family if the training session she had with Wendy three days ago was any indication. So, she wasn't worried about getting beat up. Not really. But even still, as she sat in Wendy's airship at five o'clock in the morning… well, when was the last time anyone liked getting up at five in the morning? She could barely keep her head up, barely keep her eyes open.

On the plus side, she was with Princess Wendy. Or… just Wendy, if the conversation they had about her disliking formalities was any indication. Wendy stood up on the deck of her airship with Pom Pom near the door of her cabin. And… was Wendy tired right now? Pom Pom couldn't tell. She was smiling, and she commanded some of the servants and soldiers on the airship deck with notable enthusiasm. If she was tired, she was doing a brilliant job at hiding it.

Pom Pom kinda wished she could be like that. Again, she wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed. Gripping her ninja star in one hand and rubbing her eyes with the other, she yawned. She looked up into the sky, seeing that the sun wasn't even visible on the eastern horizon. That made her chuckle; it seemed that even the sun wanted to stay in bed too.

"Okay, great!" Wendy said to one of the servants. They nodded at her, and Wendy came over to Pom Pom. She stood silent beside the rookie for a few minutes before turning toward her. "How are you feeling?"

Pom Pom chuckled. "I just want to go to sleep!" she said, intentionally putting on an overly whiny tone.

Wendy nodded. "Yeah, I don't blame you." She looked up into the sky. "I can't remember the last time we were forced to wake up this early. It's kinda unusual on Bowser's part."

"Is it now?"

"Yes. I mean…" Wendy did the so-so gesture. "We don't get much of a chance to sleep in on kidnapping days. More often than not, we wake up at eight o'clock on the dot. That way, we can be at Peach's Castle before noon." She paused. "But obviously, since we're incorporating two routes into this particular mission… yeah."

"Yeah." Pom Pom nodded, looking down at her ninja star as she did. "Do you think I should be nervous?"

"Probably not," Wendy said. "I mean, getting beaten by Mario does hurt, not gonna lie. But you get used to it. Me and my brothers have, that's for sure." She chuckled. "Honestly, I think we've reached such a high point of ambivalence that none of us put our all into the fights anymore. We just show up, do our thing, and return to the castle without any hurt feelings." She laughed. "The only thing missing from that routine is a punch clock."

The two girls laughed together. Pom Pom especially appreciated this. Wendy was just… where was she her whole life? She would've loved to have a friend like her when she was a kid.

In some ways, she did.

Pom Pom paused with her laughter. Her stomach started twisting itself into knots. The good mood that she had been in was disappearing faster than she could keep up with. Sweat beads formed all over her body.

"Pom Pom?"

Biting her lip, Pom Pom looked into Wendy's face. She looked so concerned, immensely so. She looked at her like she was someone she had known her whole life, like her problems were front and center in her mind. It was… it was weird. Weird, but still very nice.

"Are you okay?"

Pom Pom sighed before nodding. "Yeah, I just…" she considered her next course of action. It was unfortunately difficult to do so, as her sleepiness produced a very noticeable case of brain fog. She yawned, realizing that she couldn't do much in the way of conversing if she was this tired.

"Wendy, would you mind if I go get some rest?"

"Oh no, not at all. We still have some time before we reach Frosted Glacier. I don't think anyone will kill you if you try to get more sleep."

Pom Pom let out a breath. "Thank you." She turned and entered the cabin, letting out a happy sigh as she looked around the room, with heart-shaped windows and pink streamers hanging around. She locked her eyes on a bed near the closest window to her. Oh, how comfy it looked. Sure, it didn't live up to the standard of the bed that she slept in back in Bowser's Castle, but still. She could see herself sleeping in that thing for the next hundred years. She WANTED to sleep in it for the next hundred years.

So, with one last yawn, she got in bed and went to sleep.

…

The two girls laughed as they sat at the picnic table underneath the tree. Pom Pom had made tea for the two of them with the new tea kettle her mom had got her for Koopsmas, and right now she was drinking it with her best friend. They hadn't known each other very long, sure, but Pom Pom still loved her. She loved that she was always there when Pom Pom needed her. She loved that she was willing to go the extra mile to make her happy. She loved just being with her, playing with her, talking with her.

"Well, did I do a good job with the tea?" Pom Pom asked.

Pom Pom's friend giggled and raised the mug to her lips. "You did perfect, Pom Pom. I always love Earl Grey, sure, but the way you did it… it's just so special."

Pom Pom's face grew warm and her heart fluttered. "Thanks, Viv." She took another sip of her own tea. It really was quite good; she had seeped the tea for the right amount of time and she had put the right amount of sugar and cream in it. She wasn't a tea-making prodigy or anything like that, but she was still proud of herself. She was still happy that she was able to make Viv happy.

Viv took another sip of her tea before setting it down on the picnic table. A strange look appeared in her eyes, one that somehow looked sad in addition to happy. Pom Pom tried to pinpoint what that meant but had a considerable amount of trouble.

"Viv, what's wrong?"

Viv sighed. "I just…" She frowned. "I'm so glad I met you, but… sometimes I feel like it's too good to be true." She looked Pom Pom right in the eye. "I mean… we are friends, right?"

"Of course we are! You don't have to ask to know that it's true!"

Viv chuckled, the sound nervous. "But that's the thing. Sometimes I question if this is even really happening. If you really do think of me as a friend, if you really are as sweet and as loving as our interactions have led me to believe." She looked right into Pom Pom's eyes with her golden ones, which told of so much turmoil and strife. "I've lived my whole life without friends. Every time I tried to find one, it ended in failure. How… how then can this even be real? How can any of this actually be happening?"

Pom Pom gawked at Viv. "You really feel that way?"

"I do. And…" tears welled in her eyes, which she quickly wiped away. "I'm sorry." She wiped some more. "I probably look incredibly weak to you right now."

"No Viv, you don't." Pom Pom reached across the table and took Viv's hand. She stroked her finger with her thumb, giving her a smile that she hoped appeared warm. A smile that she hoped dispelled all of Viv's fears. "And you don't have to worry about anything. We're friends. Of course, we're friends." She giggled. "Nothing could stop us from being friends at this point."

Viv sniffled, drying more tears. "You… you are amazing, Pom Pom." She looked more and more happy and grateful with each passing second. "I can't believe how lucky I was to have found you."

"I can't believe how lucky I was to have found YOU." Pom Pom took another sip of her tea, smiling in a way that she swore improved the taste. "Because honestly, I'm in the same boat as you. I didn't really have a lot of friends for the longest time." She looked down at the table. "I mean, I can't tell you how many times I've been bullied in school."

"Oh, being bullied is the worst," Viv said. "I hate when it happens to me, and I especially hate that it happens to you."

"Yeah." Pom Pom managed to put the smile back on. "But that's why we need to stick together. We understand each other. We can support each other on the really hard days. And I know I will be there for you."

Viv's face got redder. "I will be there for you too, Pom Pom. In any way you need me to be."

Pom Pom was touched in the sweetest, greatest way possible. At that moment, she thought back to all the good times she's had with Viv. Like them playing hide and seek in the woods, like them playing make-believe. On more than one occasion, they had pretended that the two of them were warrior princesses who were going off to fight and kill a dragon. It was so fun, so memorable. Pom Pom knew she would treasure those experiences for the rest of her life.

"Thank you." Pom Pom stood up. "Do you want to play now?"

Viv smiled the brightest smile possible. "I thought you'd never ask."

…

Pom Pom opened her eyes. For a second, she didn't realize where she was. She was stuck between the dream and reality, left to ponder about what she had seen in the dream and try to place her current location and what exactly she was doing. It was restored to her within due time, and when it was…

She couldn't help but cry. She stared at the ceiling of Princess Wendy's cabin, the tears flowing from her eyes. She dried them as she whimpered, as she remembered the dream. Or rather, the memory. Or, rather…

Oh, she didn't even know what that instance could be considered. It had seemed so real when she had experienced it and when she had interacted with the make-believe Viv. It couldn't really be considered a memory because it didn't really happen. And yet, calling it a fantasy felt wrong. It felt like she was disrespecting Viv.

But it shouldn't be that way! Viv hadn't existed! She never existed! She was an illusion! She was a response to the bullying that Pom Pom received as a kid, a way for her mind to help her feel like she was okay. It had all been some complicated coping mechanism, a complicated coping mechanism that left her feeling lost in the present day.

"Dammit," Pom Pom said in between cries. She sat up in the bed, her heart rate picking up the more she thought of Viv. It quickly occurred to her that she was amping up, which on her first day participating in a kidnapping mission was the LAST thing she needed. "I need to take a rescue med."

So, she looked around the cabin, hoping to find some sort of water source. She didn't see anything, but that was okay; she was always prepared for instances like this. Making sure she was still comfortably situated in the bed, she got a water bottle and her bottle of rescue meds out of her hammerspace. Opening the pill bottle, she got one pill out before closing it and putting it next to her on the bed. She popped the pill in her mouth, opened the water bottle, and swallowed both.

"Oh…" She sat in place for a few seconds, thinking about everything. It would take a little bit for her to feel the pill's effects. But once she did, she could put this all behind her. She could fight Mario and just be the soldier that everyone wanted her to be…

"Pom Pom, we're almost…"

Pom Pom seized up. She saw Princess Wendy standing in the door to the cabin. The Koopaling stood in place, her eyes on one thing in particular. Pom Pom's pill bottle.

Oh no, Pom Pom thought. The tears returned as overwhelming disappointment and shame overcame her. I was hoping this wouldn't happen...