For the past few days, Willow had been a model patient. She didn't argue with her brothers about staying in the bunker so she could recover. She ate whatever her brothers gave her, even if she couldn't eat all of it. Her behavior was concerning to Branch, who had grown used to her arguing about being limited to one or two spaces. So, her recent attitude was both a welcome change and highly irritating to her immediate older brother. "Come on, Willow," Branch pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's not that big of a deal."

"No," Willow's frown deepened, her determination shining through. "Absolutely not." The two youngest siblings had been arguing for a couple of minutes now, to the confusion of the oldest four and the amusement of the royalty in the room. "There is no reason you need to take over for me at the leadership meeting. I'm here, and the others need to know I'm okay. And nothing you've said so far has convinced me I can't be a part of this."

"You still can't walk!" Branch shouted exasperated.

"Details!"

"Is this normal?" John Dory asked, looking at Poppy. "I've never seen them argue like this before."

"Oh yeah," Poppy grinned. "They used to argue like this all the time. Especially when Willow wants to do something, and Branch doesn't want her to." The complexity of their relationship was always a source of amusement for her.

Barb nodded and smirked at the brothers beside her. "You know she's feeling better when she starts arguing." She walked over to where her girlfriend was sitting and wrapped an arm around her. "Come on, babe. You've already missed two meetings; one more isn't going to hurt." She touched foreheads with Willow at the irritated scowl she got. "The leaders will understand. And if you want, we can bring them down here to talk to you afterward. How does that sound?"

"I don't like it," Willow pouted, crossing her arms and turning away from her girlfriend. "It feels like I'm being replaced just because I'm hurt."

"You're not being replaced," Trollex's voice was gentle, his face no longer amused but sympathetic. "You need to let yourself heal. And it's going to take more than a few days. Branch is the best Troll to cover for you since he's read all your notes. And it's not permanent. As soon as you can walk more than a few inches without help, we can discuss you taking over your position as ambassador." He smiled at her downturned eyes and furrowed brows and caressed her cheek. "It's going to be okay, Sweet Beat."

Willow's frown deepened as she looked between her partners and her brother. "Fine. Since you clearly won't be changing your mind, I won't argue anymore." She attempted to stand up. "I'm going to bed." She glared at the brothers, who moved to help her. "Don't touch me. I may not be able to attend the monthly meeting, but I can at least go to my room alone."

"Come on, Willow," Clay rolled his eyes. "Don't you think you're being a little dramatic?"

"I'm not allowed to do the only jobs I have in this village, and you think I'm being dramatic?" Willow snarled. "I don't need your attitude, John Dory!" At Clay's indignant cry, she rolled her eyes. "Fine, Clay! Whatever! Just leave me alone!"

Bruce placed a hand on Branch's shoulder. "You guys go ahead with your meeting," he told his youngest brother. "I'll check on her later."

Branch's brows furrowed, and he crossed his arms. "Alright. Just don't let her be alone for too long, okay? She's pretty upset."

"Don't worry, Bits," John Dory smiled. "Think of this as a chance for us to bond with our little sister. It'll be fun."

Branch's eyes narrowed his eyes at the oldest brother. "Yeah, that settles it, I'm not going." He looked at his girlfriend. "Poppy, you're just gonna have to go to this meeting without an ambassador."

"Go to the meeting," Floyd smiled at his little brother. "We'll keep John Dory in check. Plus, if you skip the meeting, Willow will be mad we stopped her from going."

"Fine," Branch conceded, looking at his pink-haired brother. "I'm counting on you guys to take care of Willow. Please make sure she's okay. I hate seeing her so upset."

Poppy smiled and grabbed her boyfriend's arm. "Come on, Branchifer. We'll be late for the meeting if we don't go now. We'll talk to Willow later, okay?"

"Yeah," Branch looked to where his sister disappeared. "Alright." He followed his girlfriend and his sister's partners to the elevator, waving to his brothers as it went to the top of the bunker.

Clay looked at his remaining siblings. "What are we supposed to do about Willow?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna make lunch. Floyd and Willow are going to need to eat something soon." The brothers were steadfast in their dedication to their siblings' health.

"I'm going to talk to Willow," Floyd decided. He smirked at his older brothers. "Since she still can't tell you two apart, maybe it's best you stay out of the way."

"How's she going to tell us apart if we don't talk to her?" John Dory demanded, crossing his arms. "I'll go talk to her."

"You sure about that, John?" Clay raised an eyebrow. "You've never been known for your sensitivity."

"I know," John Dory nodded. "But I think I know what she needs to hear."

Floyd nodded and sat on the couch. "Works for me. It means I don't have to move too much." He looked at Clay. "How about you join me on the couch? I could use some quality time with my big brother."

Clay sighed and sat on the couch with Floyd. "Sure, bro. We can hang out." He glared at the oldest brother. "Just don't say anything too stupid to upset her."

"I get it," John Dory rolled his eyes and headed for the hallway he saw their sister walk into. "I'm an insensitive jerk. I'll make sure I don't upset her too much."

"Ow!" Clay exclaimed when Floyd smacked him on the back of the head. He glared at his little brother. "What was that for?"

"For being rude," Floyd hissed, glaring at his immediate older brother. "He's trying his best. The least you can do is be supportive."

Willow huffed a sigh as she sat against the wall. She could feel one of her brothers walk up beside her. "Not in the mood for snarky comments, Clay. I'm fine."

"I can see that," John Dory smiled, amused. "And I'm not Clay. I'm the other one you don't know very well." Willow grunted in acknowledgment. He motioned to the floor beside her. "Can I sit down?"

"You're actually asking me?" Willow raised an eyebrow. "Seems like everything around here happens whether I agree or not anymore." At the oldest's silence, she sighed. "Go ahead then. What do you want?" She asked when he sat down.

"I wanted to see how you were doing," John said, looking at his little sister. "You seemed pretty upset earlier. And now you're in the hallway on the floor. Are you okay?"

"Super," Willow deadpanned, looking at the floor before her. "Neither my partners nor our brother think I can do my job anymore. And my other brothers think I'm being dramatic and not letting me do anything because I'm too weak." She scoffed and gestured to the floor. "And here I am, proving them right. I couldn't even make it to my room by myself."

John Dory sighed and looked at the floor. "Yeah, I get that. It's frustrating, feeling like the world is out of your control. But it'll be-"

"Don't say it'll be okay," Willow interrupted, pulling her knees to her chest. "It's not okay, and it doesn't feel like it's ever going to be okay again."

"Except it will," John assured, resting a hand on his little sister's shoulder. I know how you must be feeling; the world feels like it's ending, and your family is overbearing. It's worse since you barely know your overprotective family." Willow nodded at his words.

"It's our fault you don't know us. It's my fault you can't tell me and Clay apart, and I am so sorry for that." John Dory sighed and crossed his arms.

"You know, you hatched a week later than you were supposed to," John Dory said, looking at Willow. "Everyone else hatched scarily on time, so the fact that you didn't? It scared all of us."

"If I had hatched on time," Willow started after a moment. "Would you all have stayed?"

John Dory sighed. "You know, I'm not sure." He shook his head. "There's no point in asking that, though. I'm sorry we weren't here, but blaming yourself for not hatching on time? That's not good. You couldn't have known what would happen." Willow hummed in response. "Can I show you a picture?" He asked after a minute of silence. He pulled a picture out of his hair at Willow's curious look. It was a younger version of the older brothers, Bruce holding a tiny Branch and John Dory holding a bright blue egg with a tuft of red hair poking out of it. Branch had a bright smile while the other's smiles were strained. "We took this picture shortly after you detached from Mom's hair. We lost her right after." John gave a bitter chuckle. "Add that to the whole, not hatching on time, and we all got a little extra protective of you. You're the last bit of Mom we got; we don't want anything else happening to you."

John Dory sighed again as Willow looked up, his photo still in her hand. "But that's no excuse for treating you like an invalid. You are perfectly capable of doing things on your own."

"Except I'm not," Willow admitted, her face downturned as she grabbed her still-white hair. "I couldn't even walk down the hall by myself."

John chuckled. "Yeah, well, aside from that." He gently nudged her shoulder. "So you need a little help along the way. We all need help sometimes." He stood up and held out his hand. "Maybe you just need to accept that your family is here to help you. What do ya say? Want some help getting to bed?"

Willow looked at the extended hand and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I could use some help." She grabbed her brother's hand and was pulled up to her feet. The duo slowly walked to Willow's room, where John Dory helped his little sister to bed. "Thanks, Dory."

"No problem, little sis," the eldest grinned as he tucked his sister into bed. Bruce is making lunch. We'll wake you up when it's done, alright?"

Willow yawned and closed her eyes. "Sure, bro." She curled up underneath her blanket. "See you for lunch."

Lunch came and went, and Floyd chose to spend it with Willow. "You know what I want to do?" Willow asked, looking at her older brother. Floyd looked at her curiously. "I want to go outside."

"You haven't set foot outside since we got here, have you?" Floyd looked at his sister, sympathy in his eyes.

"No," Willow shook her head. "I haven't seen the sun in days or touched real grass in months. And no, the grass in Vibe City doesn't count."

Floyd nodded. "I get it. And there's no way the others will let you out of the bunker." His brows furrowed in concentration before grinning. "I think I can help with that." He grabbed her crutches and handed them to her. "Give me an hour." He grabbed her plate and left her bedroom, leaving a confused Willow.

"Alright," Willow furrowed her brows in confusion. "I'll just wait here then." She flopped back on her bed. "Brothers are weird."

An hour later, Willow heard someone knocking on her bedroom door before it opened. "Yo, Willow!" Demo called from outside her bedroom. "We're here to break you out." Cooper, Biggie, and Smidge waved beside the rock manager.

"Guys!" Willow grinned at her friends. "This is Floyd's plan?"

"Part of it," Biggie grinned. "He's in the middle of introducing Riff as a potential boyfriend to your big brothers."

"We're supposed to help sneak you out while he does that," Cooper added, smiling at his friend.

"This is fantastic," Willow's smile softened. "I'll have to thank Floyd later."

Demo grinned before helping Willow out of bed. "Come on, let's get you out of here before your brothers aren't distracted."

Willow followed her friends on her crutches into the hallway where they then surrounded her to keep her out of sight of her brothers. "I don't know, bro," John Dory could be heard in the living room. "I'm not sure I like the idea of you dating."

"Branch and Willow are dating," Floyd retorted. "We don't see you making a big deal about them."

"Willow's sick," John Dory retorted. "And Branch is dating Queen Poppy. We know her." He gestured to Riff. "We don't know this guy at all. Plus, he was a part of the whole Rock Apocolypse thing."

"You were the baby brother for the longest," Bruce added. "You had to realize we'd be concerned about anyone you'd start dating."

Willow looked around at her friends as they made it through the bunker. Her brothers were facing away from her, save for Floyd and Riff. Riff looked nervous, while Floyd was unamused. She caught her brother's gaze, mouthing a quick thank you before he raised his eyebrows in her direction. She nodded and continued to the elevator. Yeah, she owed him big time for this.

The group of friends led Willow to the elevator, careful not to alert the brothers. Willow smiled when the elevator reached the top and inhaled deeply. She stepped onto the grass before the bunker, feeling the warm sun against her face. "Freedom at last!" she looked at her friends, laughter in her eyes. "Let's go to the river. I desperately need sun, sand, and time by the water."

Smidge grinned at her friend before looking at the others gathered. "You heard the lady, team. To the river!"

Willow laughed excitedly when Biggie picked her up, and they started running for the river. Yeah, freedom never felt so good.

The brothers are not going to be happy Willow left. They'll be even less happy knowing Floyd helped her sneak out. But she's been cooped up too long and deserves a little fresh air. They'll get over it, once they stop panicking. Thanks for reading everyone! Can't wait to show you what happens in the next chapter.