Fuzzbuckets!

+ + + + + +

You were at the general store, looking for Christmas lights to put up outside the store, as December had rolled in. After looking through all the lights there were, you decided on white icicle LED lights and continued browsing.

By the time you were back at the bookstore, the sun had disappeared from the horizon and snow had started to fall slowly from the clouds. You opened the door to the bookstore, earning the ring of the bell to show you had come back.

You carried everything upstairs and to your shared apartment, where you saw Douxie coming out of the bathroom with wet hair.

“Evenin’, Y/n.”

“Evening, Doux.”

“What do you have there?” he asked, pointing at the bag in your hand.

“Just some decorations to put around the bookstore and apartment. Y’know, for festive vibes,” you replied as you set the bag down on the kitchen counter.

He nodded and plopped himself on the couch next to Nari and switched on the TV. You raised an eyebrow at his actions.

“And who’s gonna make dinner? I made it yesterday,” you questioned.

“Just order takeaway,” Douxie answered.

You rolled your eyes as you dialled Tremiti’s Pizza and ordered.

+ + + + + +

Half an hour later, you, Douxie and Nari were sitting on the couch together with your pizzas (Nari had a salad) and watching a movie.

As the credits rolled in, you cleared up the coffee table and snatched the remote from Douxie hands.

“Hey! I was going to watch another movie!” Douxie complained.

“We have work tomorrow,” you stated.

“But it’s only nine! And we live just above our work place!” Douxie protested.

“Sorry, but we need to decorate before opening up, so we need to go to bed now to get up early,” you pulled Douxie up from his seat and pushed him towards his room.

You handed the remote to Nari, “You can watch whatever you want Nari. But don’t stay up too late.”

You wished the two ‘goodnight’ and walked to your room.

As soon as your head hit the pillow, you were out like a light.

+ + + + + +

The next morning, you and Douxie started to decorate your beloved store. Douxie was outside, hanging up the LED lights and you were placing mini Christmas trees inside.

Soon, you and Douxie were looking around the bookstore, admiring the decorations.

“Now we just need to decorate the apartment,” you smiled.

Douxie gave you a look of disbelief, “I am not decorating anything else! Do you know how much patience and effort it takes for that?”

“I am very well aware of that,” you nodded.

Douxie dreaded the whole day as he didn’t want to decorate again. On the other hand, you were excited and couldn’t wait to close up the store and decorate your home.

+ + + + + +

As soon as the last customer of the day walked out the door, you locked the door and flipped the open sign to closed.

You sprinted up the stairs and into your apartment. Soon, you were busy occupied by putting up the Christmas tree.

Douxie had entered the apartment just after you finished decorating the tree and was assigned to hang up a reef on top of each and every door.

Nari was quietly sitting on the couch, watching the pair decorate their home. She was getting bored until an idea popped into her head. With one flick of her hand, she made one of the reefs fall onto the ground.

You looked up from your recipe book to see what had fallen. You went and picked it up before calling Douxie over.

“Douxie!”

He strolled up to you, “Yeah?”

You showed him the reef, “Put them up properly so they stay. Not fall down the minute you walk away from it.”

“Yes ma’am,” Douxie saluted playfully, before hanging up back up.

Before you could go back to your book, Nari created a mistletoe above the two of you.

Your eyes widened and blush creeped up on your face as Douxie smirked down at you.

“Rules are rules, love,” Douxie told you.

“I… but— it…” you stammered, trying to get out of the situation.

Douxie cut your train of thought by wrapping an arm around your waist and brought you closer to him. You looked up at him to see him leaning in closer, his eyes fluttering shut. You stood on your toes and closed the gap. His lips were soft and gentle against yours as they moved in sync. Your arms snaked up behind his neck and you started to play with the ends of his raven hair.

Soon, air became a necessity and both of you pulled away.

“That was… uh…” you started.

“Perfect? Brilliant? Amazing?” Douxie listed.

You zoned out of her speech as you felt a hand grab yours under the table and intertwined with your fingers. You looked beside you to see Douxie had his other hand holding up his face as he stared at you dreamily. You sat in the same position as him and stared back at him.

"Hey! Hey, lovebirds!"

You and Douxie quickly tore your gaze away from each other and to Anastasia and Daniel.

"Yeah?" Douxie asked.

"The dance started if you guys wanted to go," Daniel explained.

The two then disappeared from your sight from as they walked into the crowd.

You turned to Douxie to see him eyeing the food table. He looked at you, silently asking you if he could go. You nodded, Douxie jumping up from his seat and rushing over to the buffet.

You laughed as you saw him stuff his mouth with chocolate.

You turned your attention to the dance floor to see Daniel and Anastasia partner dancing. You smiled at the sight.

After watching for a while, you started to get bored.

“Where’s Douxie?” you muttered to yourself, impatiently tapping the table.

Douxie suddenly appeared from out of the crowd.

Speak of the devil.

He strolled up to you and offered you his hand.

"May I have this dance?"

Your face broke into a smile. "Yes, you may."

You took his hand, Douxie leading you through the crowd.

He placed his hand on your waist as you put one of yours on his shoulder. You took each others hands and fell into step with the music.

He twirled you around before he pulled you back into his arms. You stared into Douxie's soft, hazel eyes as he stared back into your bright, e/c eyes.

You made your way to a book and pulled it slightly, making it slide back and separate in two, revealing a door. You opened it and entered, Douxie following in unwillingly.

He waited on the dining table as you took a sandwich out the bag and put it on a plate. You placed the plate in front of him and gestured him to start eating. He sighed and picked up the sandwich. He ate slowly, his eyes never leaving your face.

"Do I have something on my face?" you asked.

"Nope. Just admiring," he replied.

Your cheeks turned pink and made you have butterflies in your stomach.

Even after dating for a year, Douxie always made you get butterflies in your stomach when he said something like that.

Why does he have this effect on me?

You cleared your throat and changed the topic, "Doux, when will you start learning how to make food?"

He shrugged.

You sighed, "You can't keep ordering takeaway. It's not good for your health."

"Aww! My girlfriend's worried about me! I'm flattered!" Douxie gushed. "But who's going to teach me?"

"I will."

Douxie raised his eyebrows at you from shock before smirking.

"You sure you'll be able to concentrate with all of this?" Douxie gestured to himself.

You rolled your eyes, "Just meet me at my place tomorrow at 3p.m. sharp."

><><><><

You glanced up at the clock hanging up on the wall in front of you.

3:10.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang throughout the apartment.

You jumped up and ran to the door. You swung it open to see Douxie leaning against the doorframe with a cheeky smile.

"What happened to coming to at 3 o'clock sharp?!" you scolded as he waltzed in.

"I may have lost track of time," he said.

"Lost track of time?" you questioned.

He shrugged and plopped himself down on the couch.

"Mr. Casperan… May I remind you that you've come to my house to learn how to cook? Not sit around and chat," you reminded him.

"Alright," he rose from the couch and walked over to the kitchen. "Mrs. Casperan, start teaching."

Mrs. Casperan?!

"Douxie, I'm not Mrs. Casperan. I'm Miss L/n," you corrected him.

"But you soon will be!" Douxie sang.

Your eyes widened before shaking your head and got to work.

><><><><

"You cut the tomato like this."

You grabbed the knife from Douxie hand and started to cut in a different direction to what he was doing. "Try again."

You handed him back the knife and he cut the way you did.

"See? That wasn’t hard," you said as you grabbed the cut up tomatoes and stirred them into the pan.

You continued to stir as a pair of arms snaked around your waist and a chin rested on your shoulder.

"I've been wanting to do this for ages," Douxie whispered in your ear.

"What did I tell you about distracting me and yourself while cooking?" you giggled, pushing him away slightly.

"Hmm…" Douxie thought. "I don't remember you saying anything like that."

You playfully rolled your eyes as you tossed in some salt.

"Well don't. I'm teaching you."

You continued to instruct Douxie on how to make pasta.

Even though he was 900 years old, he didn't have time to learn how to cook.

After the pasta had cooked, you and Douxie both sat yourselves down on the couch and watched a movie together.

As the movie got more and more interesting, your eyelids got heavier and heavier. You forced your eyes open as you had started to doze off. Douxie noticed and made you lean your head on his shoulder as you finally let your eyes close.

He turned off the TV and without waking you up, carried you into your bedroom, laid you in bad and tucked you in. He quickly wrote a note telling you that he had a shift at Benoit's and thanked you for the cooking lesson.

He quickly got behind a tree and used a spell he had recently learned, and changed into a black dress shirt (sleeves rolled up of course), black pants and shoes, keeping his signature skull necklace.

He stepped out from the tree to see Archie fly away. His eyes wandered around until they landed on both you and Jim getting closer. You were wearing a stunning black A-line lace dress that went down to your knees with half laced sleeves and beige heels.

You were blindfolded as Douxie had requested Jim to do to you so you had a surprise.

Douxie could hear you complain to Jim how you didn't like being blindfolded. Jim just rolled his eyes at your antics and told you that all would be revealed in a matter of moments.

Douxie walked up to you two siblings and took you from Jim.

"Thank you, Jim. I'll take her from here," Douxie smiled and took your shoulders.

"No problem, Doux! Tell me the end result!" Jim waved and walked off.

"Douxie, where in the world am I?" you asked.

"Shhh. Be patient, love. All will be revealed," Douxie reassured.

After a few moments, the blindfold on your eyes was taken off.

You took in your surroundings. The trees were decorated with lanterns, a dining table was set and a campfire was already lit. Everything was beautiful.

You spun around to see Douxie holding out a rose for you to take, which you, without a doubt, accepted.

"Shall we, m'lady?" Douxie inquired, holding his arm out.

You nodded and you let him take you to the table.

~~~~~

Douxie had prepared f/f for dinner, and for dessert, an apple pie.

Now, the two of you were quietly sitting on a blanket at the campfire, leaning on each other.

"Love?" Douxie asked.

You hummed in response, letting him know he had your attention.

"Remember the first time we met? I had spilled a drink on the ground in the cafe and you rushed to help," Douxie remembered.

"Yeah," you nodded, memories flooding back.

~~~~~

You anxiously tapped your feet on the ground, waiting for your order to arrive.

You were in a big rush.

Mom had called to tell you that Jim was in the hospital. You knew that he was the Trollhunter, so he had gotten a lot of injuries, though, he didn't need to go to the hospital to get them treated, so you knew that this was serious.

Abruptly, you heard a crash from behind you. You turned around to see a drink had spilled all over the floor. The waiter was already on his knees, trying to clean it up.

You got up from your seat and ran over to help him. You kneeled in front of the guy to hear him faintly say, "Fuzzbuckets". You saw a faint sky blue spark come from his hand.

A wizard.

You placed a hand on his arm, making him look up into your e/c eyes. You mouthed ‘no’ and shook your head, telling him not to perform the spell. He stopped and sighed before cleaning up the mess the old fashioned way with your help.

After helping him, you returned to your seat.

Just when you were about to leave, getting fed up of the wait, the same waiter you had helped rushed up to you, order in hand.

"Hey! You were the one who helped me with the spill a couple of minutes ago, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," you nodded and then added quietly, "And the one who stopped you from using magic as a shortcut."

You smiled and took your order from him. You headed out but got stopped by the same guy.

"Hey, I never got your name. I'm Hisirdoux Casperan, but you can call me Douxie," Douxie winked and held out his hand for a handshake.

"Y/n, Y/n Lake," you replied, shaking his hand. "I'm really sorry, but I really need to go."

He nodded understandingly and waved goodbye.

As you walked to the hospital, you opened the bag that had your food in it, as well as a note. You took it out and read it:

Hey, stranger, who I probably got the name of!

I was wondering if you would grab a bite with me tomorrow at the cafe. 4 pm sharp.

Don't be late.

Yours truly,

Hisirdoux Casperan.

You smiled. You had finally found a fellow magic wielder.

~~~~~

"Then, the time when Jim got a bit overprotective of you when you were at the bookstore."

"A bit?"

"Okay, extremely overprotective of you."

~~~~~

The sun was shining high in the sky, your hair moving along with the gentle breeze, and a nice cup of coffee in your hands while you and Jim made your way to GDT Arcane Books.

Jim opened the door to reveal Archie, Douxie's familiar lying on the ground near the fireplace.

"Hey, Archie!" you greeted.

"Hello," Archie called.

You turned your attention away from the cat and to Jim, who was looking around in suspicion.

"Jim, what is it now?" you asked, placing your hand on your brother's shoulder.

"It's just… why does this store seem so… magical?" Jim inquired.

"Because a magical being owns the bookstore," you replied.

Jim nodded in response.

"Hello!" a new voice spoke.

You turned around to see Douxie coming out of the back. From the corner of your eye, you saw Jim's gaze harden at the sight of the wizard. He pulled you a bit closer to him.

Overprotective brother mode switched on.

"Hey, Doux. Did you call us in for some help?" you inquired.

"Yep! There's only so much a 900 year old wizard can do by himself," Douxie nodded.

Douxie told you and Jim what he needed help with.

Jim was sent off to get some supplies from around town, to his dismay. He wanted to keep an eye on you and Douxie, but alas, he had to go shopping.

Before Jim had left, you heard him send a death threat to Douxie.

"Don't do anything funny with my sister, Casperan. I won't hesitate to slice your head off with Daylight."

Your eyes widened. You knew Jim didn't like Douxie, but you didn't know that he hated him so much to actually threatened him.

Geez. He's way too overprotective.

You made your way over to Douxie as soon as Jim left the store.

"Don't mind him. He's just overprotective," you told Douxie.

"Uh-huh," Douxie nodded slowly.

~~~~~

"We know each other so well, made so many wonderful memories, we've spent so much time together," Douxie sighed. "And I want to spend more time with you."

You turned your head towards him, silently asking him to elaborate.

Douxie moved away and got up. He lent you his hand, which you accepted and followed suit. He took a deep breath and got down on one knee.

"Y/n, love, we've been through so much together. Good and bad. Sad and happy. And I'll continue to. You made me the most happiest man when you became my girlfriend and I thought I couldn't be any happier. But today may prove me wrong," Douxie expressed.

You gasped and clasped your hand over your mouth as Douxie took out a golden ring with embroidery and held it out.

"Y/n Lake… make me the happiest man in the world. Will you marry me?"

You had tears in your eyes at this point. Douxie looked at you with hope, love, admiration, and so much more as he waited for your answer.

"Yes."

Douxie's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning, and quickly got up. He grabbed your waist and brought you close. He leaned down and softly kissed you as he slipped the ring onto your finger.

~~~~~

Douxie stared at the photo of you two on your wedding day. You were wearing a short lace white dress and beige ankle strap heels and Douxie was wearing a white dress shirt, black tuxedo, black tie, black pants and a rose attached on the left as you two stood in front of each other, hand in hand while Douxie was kissing your forehead.

Douxie placed the photo back and glanced down at his wedding ring. It was simple, a silver band with swirl embroidery as you had the same, but gold. He remembered the feeling of your hand in his. Your giggling. Everything. But alas, ever since you had passed in battle, he couldn't seem to bring any of those memories back.

Tears formed in Douxie's eyes as he remembered the good times.

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Jim and Claire.

"Hey, Teach. What were you--" Claire started before she noticed the tears streaming down his face.

Douxie wasn't going to cry but as soon as he saw the wedded couple, he couldn't help himself.

Jim and Claire rushed over to Douxie and enveloped the wizard in a hug, attempting to comfort him. He sobbed into Jim's chest as Jim ran his hand through his hair and Claire rubbing Douxie's back.

The offer had been placed to stay at Douxie's place, knowing that you were new in town. But you politely declined, since you were already staying at a pink haired witch's apartment named Zoe Ashildr.

Turns out, Zoe and Douxie knew each other as fellow wizards. Douxie trusted Zoe to keep you safe and kept you company whenever he couldn't.

Back to the present, Douxie came down the stairs with two cups of coffee in each hand, whilst using his telekinesis floated empty boxes behind him.

"Here's a cup of coffee for a lovely lady," Douxie winked as he set a cup on the register as you were counting a new shipment of books.

"Thanks, Doux!" you called, keeping your self distracted as your cheeks had turned a crimson red from his comment.

+ + + + + +

You went to the back, needing to refill a few shelves with new novels.

Almost there…

Your fingers lightly brushed the book you wanted, but you failed to grab it.

You tried again, standing on your tip toes, even though you were on a ladder, you took the risk. This time you successfully got the novel but your foot slipped off of the ladder.

"Douxie!"

Douxie was walking to the back, wondering why you were taking so long, when he heard his name getting yelled by none other than you.

He rushed into the back room to see you falling from a dangerous height.

"Magna tawna truess!" Douxie incanted.

A sky blue aura surrounded you, saving you from the fall. You slowly got placed on the ground.

"You alright?" Douxie asked, frantically looking over you for any injuries.

"I-I'm alright Douxie," you replied.

He let out a sigh of relief.

"Whenever you need to get something from that height, just ask me, okay?"

You nodded in response.

+ + + + + +

You handed the book to the petit, old lady, who gave you some cash, along with a tip, before she headed out of the store.

“Time to close up shop,” Douxie stated, coming out from the back room.

“Finally! It’s been a long day,” you replied, stretching.

Douxie laughed at your antics.

“Get some rest, Y/n,” he smiled, heading to the front door and holding it open for you.

“Thanks, Doux. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” you said as you walked past him, “I-- ummm… Bye.”

“Yes. Bye, love. See you tomorrow,” he chuckled.

You made your way to you and Zoe’s shared apartment.

You couldn’t help but fluster yourself as thoughts of Douxie ran through your mind.

Before you knew it, you had arrived at your destination, Zoe ready to greet you.

“Hey, Y/n!” Zoe called, leaning on the doorframe, “How was work?”

“Oh, y’know… same-same,” you answered as you entered the abode.

“I forgot to mention this earlier! Douxie’s coming over for dinner!” she hollered from her spot in the kitchen as if she didn’t expect a reaction out of you.

“W-w-what?!” you sputtered, spitting out the drink that was in your mouth.

“Yeah! He should be here at 7!”

You looked at the time.

6:45…

“But… that’s… t-that’s in 15 minutes!” you cried as you ran to your room and rummaged through your clothes for something to wear.

“Well, you better hurry!” she snickered, playfully rolling her eyes.

After rummaging through your wardrobe, you finally found (you choose what you want to wear, rather than the usual plain white shirt and black pants.

Abruptly, you heard the door bell rang.

Oh no… Douxie's here.

You scrambled out of your room and into the main room to see Zoe standing in the doorway, greeting Douxie. He walked inside and spotted you.

"Hey, Y/n!" Douxie waved.

"H-Hi Douxie," you said, “W-what a nice surprise…”

“Indeed. I thought dinner was cancelled when you left work, but Zoe reminded me,” he informed.

You all sat down at the dining table, Zoe serving you your meals.

Zoe and Douxie talked over dinner, exchanging quips and banters.

You just sat there with your mouth shut, afraid of saying something embarrassing in front of Douxie.

After dinner, you tidied up the table, carrying the dishes to the sink.

“Hey! We should get some dessert! How does ice cream sound?” Zoe asked.

You and Douxie exchanged excited glances and nodded in agreement.

“Sounds good,” you smiled.

“Great! Let’s go!” Zoe exclaimed, ushering you and Douxie out the door.

+ + + + + +

You all were enjoying your ice cream at the Bluff, as you all had found the ice cream truck there. Douxie and you were sitting on the bench that was provided, while Zoe was sitting crossed-legged on the ground.

You were showing Douxie all the constellations, pointing each one out to him. He was amazed by all of your knowledge on just stars and space. Douxie knew you had an interest in a lot of things, cooking, art, sport, space, and a whole other stuff. Now, he knows you also take an interest in constellations.

Suddenly, someone's phone began ringing. Zoe noticed it was hers and picked it up.

By the way Zoe's expression turned from happy and cheerful from stressed and worried, you could tell, something was wrong.

She hung up and jumped to her feet.

"Sorry, guys. I have to go. There's a problem at Hex Tech," Zoe explained. "Bye!"

She rushed off before either you or Douxie could say anything.

You both looked at each other and shrugged before going back to constellations.

+ + + + +

Now, you two were just gazing at the stars. Douxie was in deep thought.

He had fallen in love with you in the few months he had started to write letters to you. He had only seen you through a photo that you had attached of yourself in the second letter to him, but he also got to know you through the letters. You had poured your heart into those letters, telling him everything and anything. Douxie had done the same.

He wanted to confess to you so badly! Douxie had planned to confess his feelings a few days ago, though it didn't turn out so great.

Douxie had taken you out to lovely restaurant for dinner. Everything was going according to his plan, your hands were in his as he was going to say everything, when the waiter came and interrupted. And for what? The damn bill!

You being you, took out your card to pay. Douxie wouldn't allow that. So, you two started to argue over who was going to pay the bill. Douxie ended up paying, as he planned the dinner for you.

He tried again outside of the restaurant, where there would be no interruptions. Well, that's what he thought.

You had to go to a friend’s house just after the dinner, so they decided to pick you up. Douxie had no idea about this.

Again, he was going to confess, when a car pulled up beside you two, telling you to hop in.

You apologised and headed off.

After you were gone, Douxie kicked the ground and headed to his house.

Defeated.

+ + + + + +

As you were looking up at the night sky, star gazing, Douxie was gazing at you.

He had made up his mind. He was going to tell you. Everything. Right then and there.

"Uh… Y/n? I-- uh… I wanted to tell you something," Douxie spoke up.

You turned your attention to him, "Yeah?"

Douxie took your hands in his, which made you blush a little.

"Okay, here goes nothing. Y/n… ever since I saw you-- I mean… wrote to you… Well, after I got to know you through writing letters-- through the letters, I started to look at you differently. Not in a weird way! Just more than a friend? Then, when I saw you for the first time in Arcadia, before you came to the shop. I was shocked, like I was surprised that you were in Arcadia. It's not a bad thing! I thought you lived in Europe, but turns out you moved. Anyways, I started to admire you than more a friend. I've gotten to know so much about you over the past month. So, all I want to say is that… I love you…" Douxie stammered.

You giggled at his stammering and flustered state.

He is so adorable.

Douxie took a deep breath before he repeated, "I love you." He stared into your eyes before he pressed his lips onto yours, kissing you softly as you kissed back. You both pulled away, keeping your foreheads touching.

"I love you, too," you whispered.

Douxie's eyes lit up like a child before he pulled you into another kiss, though this time, it was more stronger than the first.

You both pulled away for air just as you heard a click.

You turned your head to the source, to see a pink-haired witch standing there with her phone out, clearly taking pictures.

"Aww! You two are so cute!" Zoe cooed.

You furiously blushed and buried your face into Douxie's chest as he wrapped his arms around you.

"Zoe Ashildr!"

Did Mom just ask out Jim's history teacher?! He could be a changeling! 

"I… Coffee would be a delight. And a rain check on the appendectomy," Strickler replied. 

"Looking forward to it, Walter." 

There was a very awkward silence before Strickler turned his attention to Jim, "Watch yourself, Young Atlas. Next time, the consequence could be more severe." And he walked away. 

"Did you actually just ask my teacher out on a date?" Jim asked. 

"Don't you make this about me. You and Toby broke into a museum! And for this?" Mom scolded, as she held up Toby's Chubby Tracker. "You are grounded until you apologise to that women." 

She turned the engine on, "You got me?" 

"Yes, Mom," Jim answered. 

"Yes, Dr. Lake," Toby said. 

With that, you all drove back home. 

~•~•~•~

"Are you certain? Are you unquestionably, unequivocally--" Blinky asked. 

"I'm certain," Jim confirmed. 

"Could be anything," Aaarrrgghh commented. 

"I concur. Tobias' photographic skills are less than exemplary," Blinky noted. 

"Okay, it's a little blurry! You try taking a picture hauling butt, mister!" Toby shouted. 

"Okay, well, what about the curator? How could a person just change like that?" Jim asked Blinky. 

Blinky and Aaarrrgghh started to converse in Trollish, which none of you understood. 

"What? What is it?" you inquired. 

"Changeling," Aaarrrgghh blurted out. 

Blinky spits out his drink and covered one of his hands over Aaarrrgghh's mouth. 

The rest of the trolls at the pub all gasped. 

The blue troll nervously chuckled, "Not helping." 

"Sorry." 

You all huddled closer over the table as Blinky started to explain. 

"Changelings haven't been talked about in quite some time," Blinky started but abruptly stopped as he noticed a random troll eavesdropping. "Do you mind?"

"Whatever," he shrugged. 

"In the Old World, Gumm-Gumms…" Blinky started once again only to be stopped since the troll didn't leave. 

"Fine." 

"…stole our young and did something unnatural to change them. Their sole purpose: to spy on the world above," he finished. 

"What did they do to them?" you asked. 

"Nasty business. Very messy," Aaarrrgghh replied. 

"These are the very reasons I doubt your certainty. I don't question you saw a bridge, but Killahead? It took years to collect all of the stones. Decades, even. You would need an army of changelings," Blinky explained. 

"I know what I saw," Jim stated. 

"These are serious accusations, Master Jim. Without proof, absolute bedlam will ensue," Blinky warned. 

"Well, we have to tell someone. This is our city too," Toby said. 

"Who? Our court-appointed psychiatrist? They're never going to believe us," Jim sarcastically responded. 

Suddenly, Draal showed up. 

"We'll, if it isn't the piece of flesh I'll pound into pancakes tomorrow. I look forward to your pain and I'll drink to your death," Draal threatened. 

"Death?!" you gasped. 

"Death? What is he talking about? I thought this was only a rematch," Jim cried. 

"To challenge a troll's honour can only end in ruin. It's all right there in chapter three of A Brief Recap-- You still haven't read the book," Blinky grumbled. 

"Now, hold on. This fight, I don't know, maybe we can, um… postpone it?" Jim asked. 

"Postpone, you say? What a trainer! Does everyone in your company forget how to fight?" Draal mocked. 

Aaarrrgghh grumbled at Draal, as you patted his arm reassuringly. 

"There are things that have been brought to our attention. Things that have serious implications," Jim started but then got shushed by Blinky. 

"No, no, no, Master Jim! Shh!" 

"By Kanjigar's honour, I would have made your death swift and painless, but, for that act of cowardice, I will show you no mercy when I take back what's rightfully mine," Draal yelled and walked off. "Bid farewell to your loved ones, Jim 'the Dead Meat'."

"I'm gonna die tomorrow," Jim sighed. 

You and Toby patted Jim's back. 

~•~•~•~

You and Jim were in the kitchen making a bunch of food when Mom walked in. 

"Blueberry waffles? Bacon mac and cheese? Shrimp cakes? What is this, a last meal?" she wondered. 

"Well, I wanted to bake cookies, I decided to make your favourite, and then… eh, all your favourites," Jim shrugged. 

"If you think this going to get you out of apologising to Ms. Nomura--" she started but Jim cut her off and you shaking your head from behind him. 

"Hey, can't we just have dinner? We've all been so busy. When's the last time we've really sat down and talked?" Jim asked.

"I'll set the table," she smiled. 

~•~•~•~

"Oh! That was delicious. I don't know what I'd do without you two. I'd be ten pounds lighter, but…" she chuckled. 

"Well, you deserve it Mom," you grinned. 

"Shrimp cakes? Gosh, I haven't had those since… since…" she hesitated. 

"Dad made them for us?" Jim guessed. 

You looked at Jim and sadly smiled. 

I thought he wasn't old enough to remember. 

"I didn't think you were old enough to remember," Mom said. 

"Oh, I remember enough. I remember how his beard would scratch my face when he hugged me. How he used to make you laugh. How he and Y/n would share everything together. But, most of all, how much he hurt you and Y/n when he left," Jim remembered.

"Jim, where is this coming from?" she asked, turning around to see the two of you. 

"No matter what happens to me, I would never you like that. Both of you like that. At least, well…" Jim chuckled. "…not by choice. You guys are amazing people, and I just want you both to know I'll always love you," Jim confessed. 

"Don't you start that talk with me. I'm still hoping you'll end up close at an in-state college, just like Y/n will here. Now, help me clear the dishes. We are going to wrap these up for tomorrow. You have to give me that waffle recipe. If there's anything I could eat forever, it's waffles," Mom said. 

Jim took out a letter from his pocket and put it in between a recipe book, "It's here when you need it."

~•~•~•~

After helping Mom, you and Jim both headed into your room's. Before you went inside, he handed you a letter. 

"What's this?" you inquired.

"It says what I always wanted to say, y'know just in case," Jim replied. 

"Listen to me, Jim. You will not fail tomorrow, you got it? You've been training so hard, I know it'll pay off," you told him. 

"Thank you, Y/n. Good night," Jim nodded and walked into his room. 

You went into yours and placed his letter in your bag and went to bed. 

~•~•~•~

You were in a forest clearing, picking flowers and placing them in a basket. Suddenly, you heard someone shout out your name. 

"Y/N!" a voice called. It sounded so familiar, but you couldn't remember who it belonged to. 

You frantically looked around for the source. You saw a guy with blue tips running towards you. 

Douxie.

"Y/N! Get out of here! It's dangerous!" Douxie yelled. 

"What? Why? What's happening, Douxie?" you asked. 

"No time to explain, just get out of here!" Douxie pushed you. 

Before you knew it, you were thrown to the other side of the clearing, while Douxie was held up against a tree by a troll. It was none other than Gunmar the Black. 

"Douxie!" you called. 

"Y/n, *cough* get out of here," Douxie warned. 

"Little girl. You should have run when you had gotten the chance. Now see your friend die!" Gunmar declared. 

Two Gumm-Gumms held you in place as Gunmar got his sword ready. You tried to get out of the Gumm-Gumms hold, but they just held you tighter. 

"Douxie!" you cried as you watched in horror as Gunmar mercilessly stabbed his sword into Douxie, earning a scream from him. 

"No…" you whispered as tears streamed down your face. 

The Gumm-Gumms released you from their grasp and followed Gunmar. You ran to Douxie and pulled him into your lap. 

"Douxie, I'm so sorry. I should've left when you told me to and now you're suffering the consequences. I am so so so sorry, Douxie. It should've been me. I--" you rambled before Douxie cut you off. 

He place a hand on your cheek, caressing it. 

"It's ok, love. You don't have to be sorry, its just fate. And fate has decided for my time to end and yours to continue," Douxie assured. "I love you Y/n Lake." 

With those last words his hand slipped from your face and his eyes closed. 

~•~•~•~

"No!" you screamed as you jolted awake. 

You looked around to see that it was around 4 o'clock in the morning. 

"Why the heck did I just have a dream about Douxie getting killed?" you asked yourself. 

Then, you just laid in bed for an hour, recovering from what you had just saw. 

~•~•~•~

After somewhat recovering, you got up and got ready. 

It was still pretty early, so the sun hadn't risen yet. 

You checked up on Jim, seeing him peacefully sleeping with the A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore on top of his head. 

Must be studying right before his big fight with Draal. 

You walked over to him and closed the book, placing it on his desk next to him. 

You quietly got your bag and headed out the house. 

You couldn't bother riding your bike, so you slowly made your way to Sam's by walk. 

As you were crossing the bridge, the sun had started to rise, giving an amazing view. You stopped and let the sun rays warm you, making you grin. 

Today is going to be a great day. 

~•~•~•~

Today has to be the worst day!

You were in the school bathroom, attempting to wipe off the last of a smoothie and mud off of your clothes. But, it had dried up, so there wasn't much luck. 

"Why of all people is this happening to me!" you groaned as you threw the tissue you were using away.  

You were at Sam's just ordering a smoothie, when a waiter tripped over air and came crashing into you, spilling your smoothie on you. On top of that, as you were walking across the soccer field, a groups of soccer guys came rushing onto the field. They hadn't noticed you and neither did you, so you crashed onto the ground, right were there was a puddle of mud. 

You gave up trying to clean up and walked off to class. 

~•~•~•~

"Miss Lake, go to detention, now!" the teacher ordered. 

You handed your work to the teacher and headed out. 

You were standing in line to hand in your work, when someone shoved you as they were walking back to their seat. You, having a bit of an anger issue today due to having a bad day, pushed them to the floor. You obviously didn't mean to do that, but you had no control over you actions then. 

As you walked out the classroom you felt a pair of eyes on you. You quickly turned around to see Douxie was staring at you worriedly. Suddenly the strangest thing happened. 

"Miss, may I please go to detention" Douxie asked

"No you may not Mr. Casperan," she responded with a blank face.

That was when it happened, Douxie went to a desk and threw it to the ground.

"May I please I go to detention now?" Douxie repeated. 

"Y-Yes you may," she nodded. 

You watched in awe as Douxie calmly walked past you. He glanced back at you with a smirk. 

"You coming…" Douxie paused. "…or not?" 

You rapidly blinked and headed to detention together. 

~•~•~•~

Toby: Y/n? I thought you were coming to Jim's fight.  

You: I can't. 

Toby: Y?

You: I got stuck in a… problem. I can't come. 

Toby: Oh… ok. 

You: Wish him luck for me and… don't let him die. 

Toby: I'll try. 

You switched your phone off and leaned back in your chair. 

"Are you okay?" Douxie inquired. 

"Yeah," you sighed. 

"By the look on your face, you don't look fine to me," Douxie chuckled. 

"I'm fine. Really, don't worry," you plastered a smile on your face. 

~•~•~•~

You remembered about the letter that Jim gave you yesterday and took it out. It read: 

Y/n,  I might not come home after the fight with Draal. I know that, Toby knows that and you know that. But Mom doesn't. She doesn't know anything about my Trollhunting, your magic, or anything about our other life. She's clueless about it. But after the fight, you can change that if you want.  You'll have to give a reason to why I didn't come home with you. You can either say the truth or continue to keep it a secret by giving another reason. You can say that I'm at Toby's for the night, I'm camping, or give a reason for my death that doesn't include getting killed by a troll. But, that's up to you. If you do break the news to Mom, please take care of her.  I guess I was a bit rude towards Douxie. Okay, maybe not a bit but that's not the point. I realised that he makes you as happy as you were when Dad was around. No one has made you as happy as you were back then than him. Not even me. Maybe he is a good guy. I would've loved to known him better. I might but that depends on the fight. If I do somehow defeat Draal, I promise I'll try to get to know him. Y/n, you're the best sister and know that I'll always love you. You're just not my sister, you're my first best friend, my emotional support, and so much more. I'd never want anyone else.  I'm sorry and I love you.  Love,  Jim, your brother. 

~•~•~•~ 

You blankly stared at the wooden desk in front of you. You had nothing else to do other than that. Well, you could be thinking about Jim but that was the last thing you wanted to think about. 

"Y/n, you've been staring at the desk for quite a long time now. You are not okay," Douxie stated. 

"I'm fine, Douxie," you reassured. 

"But--" Douxie began but got cut off by the bell. 

3:00 

"Well, I'll see you around Douxie. I'll drop by your place tomorrow to continue the plan. Bye!" you rushed and headed out the door and to Trollmarket.  

"Bye, love…" Douxie waved. 

He got his things and headed back to his apartment. On the way, he pondered over your behaviour today.

"What are you hiding, Y/n?" he thought. 

~•~•~•~

You ran down the crystal staircase and met with Blinky and Aaarrrgghh at the bottom. 

"Did he?" you panted. 

"Master Jim was incredible! How he defeated Draal the Deadly!" Blinky cheered. 

"Oh thank the stars!" you laughed. "Where is he now?"

"Master Jim left for his residence a long time ago," Blinky replied. 

You nodded and went back up the stairs. 

~•~•~•~

You barged into the house to see Jim cleaning up. 

"Jim!" you exclaimed. 

He turned his head and his eyes lit up. The two of you both ran to each other and wrapped each other's arms around one another. 

"I heard you won," you whispered. 

"Yeah! I found Draal's weak spot and used it against him!" Jim pulled away. 

"That's great!" 

Jim told you everything about the fight with Draal, how Nomura showed up and that Draal was now living in the basement. 

After cleaning up with the help of your magic, you two went to your respected rooms. 

You laid in bed and reflected over the day.

Maybe today wasn't the worst day after all