Fluffuary Day 5. Reunion, Ultistrawberry
A little sneak peek at a future fic!
In front was the Ultimate Cookie.
Like Dougheal, she was covered in jam. The only truly visible part of her was her eyes, wide and frightened. She was hunched over, clenching the sword Gingerbrave had jumped in with, white knuckles barely visible underneath all the red. Behind her, almost shielded by her cloak-
"Gingerbrave!"
Their friend tried to stand and then promptly sat back down. "Nope, nope, ground's good. Ground's nice," he mumbled to himself, patting the ground, as they rushed over. Like the Ultimate Cookie, he was covered in jam and reeked like it, but that didn't stop Strawberry and Wizard from rushing forward.
"GINGERBRAVE!"
He looked up in time to be scooped up into their embrace. Strawberry could feel a laugh, shocked and rushed, escape his body as she and Wizard squeezed him tight. Jam was probably covering her, but who cared?
Gingerbrave was here, was alive, and wore a new gauntlet.
"Did it work?" Wizard said, pulling back first.
Gingerbrave raised his hand, revealing that the gauntlet appeared to be made of leather, twice his hand's size. In the center of the back of his hand was a gem.
The shape resembled his skull-shaped buttons, but it was bigger. Instead of white, it was iridescent, faint colors shimmering across it as Strawberry tilted her head back and forth. It was gorgeous.
"It worked," Gingerbrave breathed, reaching up and pressing a hand to it. "Ultimate, it worked!"
"It did!" Ultimate flexed her opposite hand back and forth, admiring the new panja bracelet she wore. Like Gingerbrave, her soul jam was iridescent and skull-shaped, but the edges of the shape looked as though they were turning into petals.
If anyone noticed that the petals looked like the petals of a lily, nobody commented.
It had. It had worked. Even better, Gingerbrave and…
Strawberry didn't think twice. Instead, she grabbed Ultimate's hand. Without another thought, she pulled her into a hug.
"Uh, wha- hi-?"
"Thank you," she said into her hair. "Thank you so much."
"For what?"
"…Surviving. Bringing him back to us." Her grip tightened. She didn't know Ultimate Cookie that well, but she was determined to know her. "Thank you so much."
Slowly, a hand reached up and patted her back.
"I… you're welcome."