Chapter Text
Garnet placed down a cup of tea in front of Nathaniel, “What brings you here?”
The time traveller sent back a lazy smile, “I need a break from fixing timelines sometimes, you know?”
Garnet smiled, sitting down across from him, “That’s fair.” A cat wormed its way into his lap, quickly earning itself several scratches to the head.
They sat in comfortable silence, drinking their tea for the next couple of minutes.
“Has anything happened in this universe lately?” Nathaniel asked, holding a cup in his hands.
Garnet shrugged, “Nathaniel’s friends came to visit a week ago.” His gaze turned downcast as he stared into his tea, “Including Marc.”
Nathaniel bit his lip, internally wincing. Garnet’s Marc didn’t treat him the best back in his original universe. Of course, he regretted his actions, but as Garnet never asked, no one told him.
“I saw him, and we made eye contact for a couple of seconds,” Garnet continued, “Then I ran.” He tapped his fingers on his cup, “I just looked at him. And suddenly I started thinking about my own Marc.” He sighed. “My mind just flashed back to dates I used to have with my Marc.”
Garnet watched as a stray tear dropped into his tea. He placed the cup on the table, starting to rub at his eyes, “I shouldn’t miss him. He almost, no, scratch that, he did make me hate myself enough to try and take my own life.” His body started shaking with his sobs, “Then, why do I?”
Nathaniel took a sip of his tea, before beginning to speak, “You miss what you had. The relationship, I mean. Those days walking down the park, hand in hand. You miss those. Not your Marc.”
Garnet smiled, “Yeah. Maybe that’s it.” He wiped away any remaining tears. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for this to become a therapy session.”
“I don’t mind.”
“I’m still sorry,” Garnet pursed his lips, searching for a conversation topic, “That’s enough about my home universe. What about you?”
Nathaniel placed down his teacup, folding his hands in his lap.
“I don’t think I’m going to have one to go back to soon.”
Kelpie and Nathaniel leapt into Bunnix’s burrow, giggling all the while. Nathaniel climbed down from Kelpie’s back.
"What? No thank you for the free piggyback ride?" Kelpie teased. Nathaniel simply stuck his tongue back at him.
“Alright, let’s get back home before Bunnix finds out we were messing around in timelines,” Nathaniel said, still trying to calm down his laughter. The two walked over to the portal returning them to their home. Kelpie reached out to enter it. His hand slipped, fast-forwarding the window.
Kelpie quickly paused the portal, although it had been stopped several years into the future.
The two-time travellers watched in shock as they stared at the barren wasteland that used to be their home.
“What?” Nathaniel asked, throat going dry.
A hand landed on their shoulders. They turned around to see a remorseful Bunnix.
“Hey, c’mon, just tell us how to fix it so we can prevent this bad end,” Kelpie tried nervously laughing off the image.
Bunnix winced, rubbing her arm. “Some universes have to have a bad end. That’s how balance works.”
Nathaniel’s heart dropped.
Kelpie laughed again, although the panic was much more evident in the tone, “C’mon, Bunnix, not funny.”
Her steely gaze told them all they needed to know.
Nathaniel punched her in the arm, although it likely didn’t do any damage, “Stop joking around. Tell us how to fix it.”
She didn’t answer, only frowning more.
“Our friends! Our family! What’s gonna happen to them?!” Nathaniel screamed.
“We can’t just let them die!” Kelpie pleaded, “Isn’t there another way? Could we use another universe instead?”
Bunnix shook her head.
Both boys latched onto her arms.
“Bunnix, no, Alix,” Nathaniel looked up, tears threatening to spill out of his eyes, “We can’t… They’ll die. We have to save them, please.”
The hero’s shoulders slumped, “I’m sorry.”
She held the two sobbing boys there for a long while.
“Some universes just have destined bad ends,” He murmured, “And I can’t control which ones.”
Garnet’s hand went up to cover his mouth in shock, “I’m so sorry-”
“Don’t be.” Nathaniel shrugged off the concern, “You didn’t know.” He picked up his tea, staring at his reflection, “For the little time I have left with them, I’m going to make sure it’s the best years of their life.” He shook his head, staring up at Garnet.
“Now, let’s move on to another topic.”