-

Nothing else really happened, until the day came for the king's birthday, and there was a huge competition held at the creek, a chance for kids to win the King's old gifts as prizes, and there were a few that Jackie was very interested in.

Apparently Jackie had a nickname now, one that the Water Lily Brigade informed him with a sense of pride.

The Arm.

It took a few days to grow on him, but once it did, it felt like a badge that he was proud to show off. Everytime he held something that could be thrown, he found kids sneaking glances at him, staring at him in anticipation and nerves.

Nobody has ever looked at Jackie like that.

At one point during the competition, there was a water balloon throwing game, and the rest of the Water Lily Brigade were practically pushing him towards the game with glee, patting him on the back and giving him a thumbs up in support.

As he gingerly held a water balloon and stepped forward, staring at a poor, trembling kid wearing a target to be hit, Jackie could feel a million eyes on him.

He was thankful it was hard to see his eyes through his goggles, because he really didn't want everyone to see the way he nervously glanced around at the crowd. He made sure to keep his composure calm and collected, giving nothing away, but on the inside, he was freaking out.

He's never felt this much pressure to throw a ball before, but then again, it was like they were just waiting for him to do something mind-blowing.

He looked down at the water balloon, then back up, towards the king and his BFF. Both were watching him with rapt attention. Xavier had a smirk on his face, as if he was enjoying this for a completely different reason.

Once again, Jackie felt that pressure, and it tugged at his nerves impatiently. It made him feel like he was on a stage, having his whole life be reduced to this one moment. Somehow, he knew.

If he failed now, his life would never be the same.

So he gulped, and lifted his arm, pretending not to see the way the target kid flinched at his actions, or the fear that was so clear on their face that it made Jackie uncomfortable.

He had to do this- for the king. Sure, the free Sprinkle Paws were nice to get, but he needed to impress the king. He needed to climb that ladder, and if his aim was the thing that helped him, then so be it.

Before he could even register what he was doing, he was already throwing the water balloon, quickly reaching for a dozen more as the first one naturally hit its mark.

He threw the balloons, again and again and again- until Jackie was grinning wildly, hitting the kid with enough force to make them topple over, and even then, Jackie managed to get one last hit in.

Finally, he stopped, panting with a sense of satisfaction in his chest. Then, he looked up.

King Xavier was staring down at him gleefully, his hands pressed together under his chin, looking at Jackie like he was a prize himself.

The king raised his arms, and said something that Jackie heard so clearly in his head that it echoed in his brain for the rest of that day.

'The Arm Wins!'

Yeah. Of course Jackie won.

He was The Arm of the kingdom.

-

The event ended, and the Acorn Knights ended up winning the competition, and Jackie was only slightly disappointed.

Truthfully, he was still buzzing from his victory earlier, his fingers twitching to throw something already.

But then, something equally terrifying and amazing happened, right before the event ended and everyone had to go home for dinner.

Maya brought him to the king.

A million terrible scenarios spun in Jackie's head, and they only got more daunting and awful as Jackie stood in front of the king, who looked even more intimidating up close and on his throne.

Jackie didn't see this playing well in his favour, and his hands once again were instinctively going towards his chest.

But then people were standing on either side of him, and Jackie looked to see the Blur and the Squashinator with him, both looking up at the king excitedly.

King Xavier stood up, and began addressing them, and Jackie felt an awkward lump in his throat, too scared to do anything.

But then Maya moved to stand directly in Jackie's line of sight, unrolling a scroll as if she was about to announce a royal decree.

But instead, she just turned the scroll towards him.

Jackie's eyes widened in surprise, but he still smiled gratefully and signed, 'Thank you,' at her, and started to read.

'Congratulations, Aggie, Jackie and Keun Sup!'

'You have managed to impress your King with your incredible skills today! You rose above your lousy teammates, and proved to everyone that you are some of the most feared kids in the creek, and that those skills are loyal to this kingdom.'

'That's why I have decided to bestow upon you the greatest honour I can- making you three my champions!'

Jackie's breath hitched.

'From now on, you will be my elite guard, my knights that will defend your kingdom from any kid who dares to defy me, or the peace and candy that your king has brought you.'

'You are better than everyone else now, because of me, King Xavier. You are Champions now.'

King Xavier finished his speech with a flourish of his coat cape, standing up and walking past them without even a glance, without even waiting to hear their response. It was as if he knew how they would react.

Meanwhile, Jackie's jaw was hanging open in shock. Him? Good enough to be a Champion of the king? Was this a dream?

But as the three of them turned around to face Xavier again, they found him hear the edge of the platform, giving a speech to his people below, probably about his newly appointed guard.

Jackie was still dumbstruck, unable to believe that this was happening. But this was what he wanted, right? To be respected and seen? Well, it doesn't get better than recognition from royalty.

Even if it came because he threw stuff at kids. But that didn't mean anything, right?

Jackie looked up and to his left. Aggie was grinning with an intensity that looked almost feral, but when she looked down at him, he saw that there was nothing but pure happiness shining in her eyes. Jackie gave her a soft smile.

He then looked down to his right. Keun Sup was bouncing up and down on his feet, smiling to himself, looking confident and almost cocky at their new titles, as if it was obvious that they deserved these positions.

Keun Sup caught him staring, but his confidence never shook. Instead, he just gave Jackie a wink, and Jackie's smile grew wider.

Finally, King Xavier stepped to the side, motioning for the three of them to step forward.

Aggie gripped his hand tight, the weight a comforting and grounding feeling in this overwhelming moment.

Keun Sup took his hand as well, his fingers twitching with adrenaline that Jackie understood all too well.

Keun Sup also kept giving little squeezes to Jackie's hand, although he wasn't sure if Keun Sup was aware of that. Still, Jackie squeezed back.

They stepped forward, and it felt like Jackie was floating, like he was the one being soared through the sky, right towards his target.

He could feel the rumbling of voices under his feet, the sun beating down on him, and still, he gripped those two hands that made this moment real.

Jackie saw a sliver of the crowd below him, and he smiled, big and full of excitement that couldn't be contained. He felt a fire in his chest, at how different things looked from up here.

People weren't ignoring him, or bullying him. They were cheering for him. They had to, or else they had to answer to the king.

So Jackie stepped forward with his fellow Champions, gripping their hands tight, and threw them up as the kingdom celebrated The Arm and all that he now was.

-

Being a Champion of the king changed a lot of things for him, both in and outside of the creek.

On the inside, he basically did everything the king asked of him, no questions asked. King Xavier would trust nobody but Maya and the Champions to get his most important tasks done right.

They all got to flaunt and show off their skills to everyone, leaving the other subjects stunned into silence, bowing and backing away whenever Jackie was near.

Xavier showered them in candy and gifts, and every job well done was another step that they climbed, higher than the others.

But Xavier would also invite them all to a sleepover at his house, which was, like, a big deal.

Jackie's never been to a sleepover before, but Xavier's was definitely one of the coolest. It felt nice to ditch the costumes and just hang out as kids for a change. For the most part.

But being a Champion and under Xavier's rule was also- tiring.

Jackie and the others were always expected to be at the creek, no exceptions. All of their free time had to go to the king. Jackie missed the days where he could just hang out with his dad, where he could relax and recharge.

Anything less than perfection was not taken lightly. What Xavier gave, he could easily take away from them, and they understood that the king would not hesitate to punish them if things didn't go his way.

It gripped Jackie with a fear that made him afraid to move. He worked so hard to become a Champion, to get this title and respect. It wasn't anything like his old neighbourhood, where kids either ignored him on a good day and picked on him on a terrible day.

But here? Jackie was The Arm, someone who people were intimidated by. Nobody wanted to cross a Champion of the king, and those that did were dealt with accordingly.

Jackie can't lose this. He can't go back to being alone. The Arm was everything that Jackie was and more.

So he would do anything Xavier asked. He'd rip balls from other kids and throw them far away, never to be seen again. He'd trample and ruin whatever Xavier hated.

He'd even toss enough water balloons at some poor kid, hard enough for their skin to sting and their clothes to be completely drenched, just like how their tears wet their face.

They deserved it. They defied the king. They shouldn't of been doing it if they couldn't handle the crime-

-right?

Deep down, Jackie could feel himself start to understand how his bullies must have felt.

It didn't make him feel right. It didn't make him feel okay.

But it made him a little good, so he kept playing along.

-

The one good thing during all of this was that he got to know Keun Sup and Aggie better.

There was an unspoken camaraderie between them that Jackie appreciated. They were all in this together while serving king Xavier and his somewhat mad rules.

Nobody suffered more than Maya, though. The Champions could see that clearly.

Jackie remembers one day, when Maya came up to him, a rare sheepish look on her face, as she handed him a note that said, 'You know, you'd make a great pitcher, if you ever wanted to give baseball a shot.'

Jackie had smiled wide, glancing down at the menacing purple bat that Maya wielded. But there was simply just excitement coursing through Jackie at that moment, at the thought of a kid wanting to play with him outside of the kingdom.

He quickly scribbled back, 'Pick any time you want- I'll pitch and you'll bat. It would be so much fun!'

Maya took the note from him and read it over, before a small, fleeting smile appeared on her face, but then it immediately crumbled into something more sad than Jackie felt like Maya had any right to feel.

That's how Jackie knew that Maya was under just as much pressure as the Champions.

Keun Sup may still act confident and self assured all the time, but Jackie notices the way he glares at himself while tying his shoelaces.

Aggie may relish in her position and her power, but Jackie sees the way she grits her teeth and slams her fist into a tree when things don't go her way.

But still, that didn't stop any of them from looking out for each other.

Aggie would literally pick Jackie and Keun Sup up when they were both too in their own heads. She would drag them to a secluded area, and make them do light stretches with her.

Jackie hated to admit it, but those moments did help them loosen and lighten up, and Jackie could always tell when even Aggie looked more relaxed during those times, when being 'The Squashinator' was starting to feel too heavy for her.

Jackie could also tell when Keun Sup would be too hard on himself, trying to cover it up with jokes or puns. Jackie could see that, and wouldn't hesitate to intervene.

He'd give Keun Sup a knowing look, holding a frisbee in his hands, and the way Keun Sup's eyes would light up was electric, as Jackie tossed the frisbree and let Keun Sup chase after it.

They would do that for over half an hour, and Jackie never got tired of seeing the way Keun Sup slowly got the bounce back in his steps.

But there would also be times that Aggie and Keun Sup would surprise him. Jackie wasn't sure how they could tell when something was bothering him, he'd like to think that he looked calm and collected a lot of the time. But somehow, when everything got too overwhelming, they knew.

Aggie would stomp over to him and block him from going anywhere, a sinister smirk on her face. That's when Keun Sup would grab his hand, leaving no room for complaint, and proceed to drag him deep into the creek.

The first time it happened, Jackie had no idea what to think, and just blindly followed the two of them and whatever crazy thing they were bringing him to.

But imagine Jackie's surprise when Keun Sup and Aggie brought him to a frog pond.

He had let a tiny gasp out, body going still at the sight of the adorable little green blobs in the pond, floating on lily pads that made Jackie want to never leave this moment.

A fuzzy feeling was slowly crawling up his chest, but he didn't know what it was called.

He looked over at Keun Sup and Aggie, who were smiling softly at him, giving him space to take in the scene and move closer for himself.

Jackie blinked away tears, thankful that his goggles hid the act, lest he have to suffer Keun Sup's playful teasing for the rest of the day.

He cautiously walked forward, terrified of scaring away the frogs. He slowly walked to the edge of the pond, and crouched down, staring at the frogs in wonder as they minded their own business, completely unbothered by Jackie's presence.

Then one frog blinked and jumped from one lily pad to another, getting closer to Jackie- and that was officially the best moment of Jackie's life.

He grinned so wide that his face hurt- hours and hours of being forced to act calm to please the king making the smile almost feel foreign.

He looked up at Keun Sup and Aggie, and was so happy that he wasn't sure if he could properly get it across. But he could only settle on a simple, 'Thank you.'

That seemed to be more than enough for the other two Champions, as they all watched the frogs in peace together.

-

The days passed, the kingdom prospered, and Jackie was getting closer to Aggie and Keun Sup.

They would sometimes ask him to teach them how to say certain things in sign, like 'please', 'how are you', their own names, simple stuff like that.

Jackie was always happy to teach them, but he's done this song and dance before. People would try and get to know Jackie and learn sign, but would give up after a few days, saying that it was too hard to learn.

So Jackie tried not to get his hopes up, but he couldn't help the tiny flicker of hope in his chest whenever the other two successfully signed correctly.

At one point, Aggie said that she wanted them to go on a hike together, just the three of them. No costumes, no responsibility, and more importantly, no king Xavier.

Jackie wanted to, but he wasn't sure how they would get away with it, with all three of them mysteriously being gone from the creek at the same time.

Keun Sup had waved his worries away casually, and just instructed that they tell the king that they had a dentist appointment.

Jackie told him that there was no way that lie would work.

It did.

Jackie shoved Keun Sup's smug face away when he arrived for the hike.

Apparently, Aggie heard rumours that there was a secret waterfall at the top of this hike, going on to talk about how it was their right as Champions to find this waterfall, to prove themselves at the best of the best.

Jackie already thought they were the best, but it still sounded fun! He's never seen a waterfall before.

The clear skies and calm weather helped set the whole mood for the day. They joked, they got lost, took pictures, they rested and ate snacks. It was just so nice.

It was so nice to not have to be constantly looking over his shoulder, or worrying over every little thing he did. There was no Water Lillies, Cherry Blossoms, or Acorn Knights- and there was especially no scary king.

Jackie couldn't remember the last time he had just hung out and explored without it being an order from Xavier. Maybe they should bring Maya next time.

Eventually, they came across this hill, where pine trees rested at the top of it. All three of them silently shared a look with one another, before immediately racing each other to the top.

Naturally, Keun Sup was first, but that didn't mean Jackie was going to lose to Aggie. While Aggie jumped high into the sky and within the clouds, Jackie grabbed a decent sized rock and some rope he brought with him, expecting a climb of some sort today.

He successfully managed to wrap the rope around a sturdy branch, and swiftly climbed up the hill, right at the same time that Aggie jumped to the top as well, a tremor going through the ground as she landed.

They all laughed and high fived each other.

Later on, they would call this place the 'Speed Hill Zone'.

They kept moving, Keun Sup ate a pinecone because of a dare from Aggie. Jackie and Aggie burst out laughing as he got sap all over him. They jokingly called him 'pine butt' for the next hour.

Finally, they reached the waterfall.

Jackie had been panting once they got to the top, but once he lifted his head and saw the view, he was left breathless all over again.

It was his entire town down below them.

He hadn't realised how pretty their town looked. Everything looked so small but so bright, with every corner holding something wonderful and full of life to discover.

Even beyond the buildings, where the mountains stretched far and wide, Jackie couldn't help but be filled with so much awe, that he got to live and make memories in a place like this.

They could have stood there for hours, and it still wouldn't have felt like enough time.

It was so easy to get consumed with all things creek and Xavier related. It was easy to get caught up in being a part of the royal guard, and making sure they didn't upset the king and fall down the social ladder.

Jackie still cared about those things, but up here, on top of this waterfall with Aggie and Keun Sup by his side- it just felt so small in that moment.

All of those worries and fears floated away, and Jackie started to feel like himself again.

At some point, from the corner of his eye, he saw Keun Sup turn to face him, and Jackie looked down, smiling.

Then Keun Sup smiled back, almost nervously, and signed, 'It's beautiful, right?'

Jackie froze, then blinked, wondering if he had imagined that.

But the longer he just stood there, the more that Keun Sup looked anxious, so he signed again and said, 'Sorry, did I do it right? Or is something wrong?'

Jackie still couldn't believe what he was seeing, even as he raised his hands and quickly signed back, 'What? How long have you known ASL?'

At that, Keun Sup grinned, and that was when it hit Jackie- the fact that they were talking to each other without having to pass paper between them.

The realisation hit Jackie in the chest, making his vision blurry and something inside him crumble.

Keun Sup was unaware of these feelings as he signed back, 'We've been learning for the last couple of weeks. We wanted to surprise you.'

A tap on his shoulder made Jackie turn around, only to find Aggie's excited and confident smile.

She began to sign as well, as effortless as Keun Sup had been. 'This way, our teamwork and power will be unstoppable!'

Then immediately after, her expression got more sheepish and sincere as she added, 'But also it was fun getting to learn ASL, especially if it's for you.'

Jackie blinked rapidly, taking a step back and looking between the two of them.

This couldn't be happening. There was no way that the three of them were just casually using sign language right now. Jackie must be dreaming.

He forced his hands to remain steady as he signed, 'Why would you take time out of your days to learn ASL? Why would you do that?'

Keun Sup and Aggie shared a look of confusion with each other, until Aggie signed, 'Isn't it obvious? We wanted to talk to you without having to write on a dumb piece of paper every time.'

Jackie's vision was getting increasingly blurrier, but he just about managed to make out Keun Sup giving him a soft smile as he signed, 'Yeah, we wanted to be able to talk to you properly. You're our friend, Jackie.'

Finally, Jackie fell apart.

A sob was ripped out of him, as tears fell down his face, and he had to lift his goggles up to scrub them away, but more just kept falling.

The next thing Jackie knew, he was being pulled into a warm, safe embrace, and all it did was make him cry harder, as he fully leaned into Aggie and Keun Sup's arms.

Friends. They wanted to be his friend.

At some point, he started signing, 'Thank you,' over and over again, until Aggie just gently squeezed him tighter to calm him down, and Jackie just clung to them, never wanting this moment to end.

He did manage to calm down, feeling Keun Sup rub his back, and when Jackie looked down at him, there was a subtle intensity in his eyes, one that reminded him of when his dad was feeling particularly overprotective.

Keun Sup smiled up at him and signed, 'We got your back, Jackie. You're one of us, after all.'

That was the thing to bring Jackie's smile back.

Once he had collected himself and dried his face, he felt a little embarrassed as he signed, 'Sorry. Nobody's ever done that for me. You guys don't understand how much this means to me.'

They both just smiled at him and gave him another hug.

A few minutes later, they were all gazing out at the waterfall again, at the distance from the top to the bottom, an unspoken urge felt between all three of them.

Jackie was the one to break the silence. 'So are we gonna jump in it?'

Aggie grinned in rabid excitement, balling her hands into fists before replying, 'Yes! It's the ultimate way to end our journey here, our reward for all our hard work!'

'You gonna jump in first then?' Keun Sup cheekily asked, and at that, Aggie froze nervously, eyes darting all over the creek.

'Why don't you go first?' Aggie shot back. 'Or are you just a scared little baby?'

Jackie fondly rolled his eyes as he could sense a petty argument about to erupt, and he gently intervened with, 'Why don't we all jump together?'

That seemed to ease both of their worries, as they nodded in agreement, and they both took Jackie's hands, and stared down at the water below.

This was it. This was the final test of their worthiness as Champions. But funnily enough, Jackie didn't feel any of the pressure or stress that came with the weight of that title.

Maybe it was because there wasn't an audience to cheer for them or look on in fear.

This was just for them.

There was no Squashinator, no Blur, and no Arm.

There was just Aggie, Keun Sup, and Jackie.

One moment, they were standing still, and the next- they were rushing and jumping off a waterfall with grins so big it hurt.

Jackie felt the wind blowing against his face, and the comforting hands of his friends, and there was a split second where the sun was shining down on all three of them- before they hit the water.

The coldness of the water shook Jackie to his bones, but nothing could quell the pure joy he felt as he clung to Aggie and Keun Sup, laughing and splashing water at each other.