"TEDDY?! TEDDY BEAR, IS THAT YOU?!"
A voice shrieked out when I stood at the top of the road, peering around at everything around me.
Able's house was still here, but it was fenced off with a flowery hedge from the rest of the field here.
To my right was a massive dark wooden building people moved about inside. It had looping words on the side painted bright yellow.
Under the Spirits.
Cute.
Something smashed into me and sent me sprawling onto the tar around me.
I felt the arms gripping me tightly before the shower of kisses smacked over my face.
"TEDDY! IT'S BEEN FOREVER!"
The enthusiastic tackler pulled back so I could see its pale white skin and red markings. The red spot on the forehead kicked recognition straight into me.
"AZALEA?!" I gasped to her tearful, nodding face before crushing her in my arms "it's really you!"
"How come you never responded to any of my messages or calls!" she punched my shoulder now "you didn't even turn up to Able's funeral. I was worried about you!"
My ears dropped immediently, and Azalea saw the shock rippling through me.
I knew she didn't have much time left, but hearing that she had actually passed kicked me in the gut.
I had kept her promise and returned as the demon she had wanted to see again, but I had been too late.
"Here" Azalea helped me up from the ground and beat the dust from me "come inside. I'll explain everything."
She took my suitcase, and I picked up my container that had gone flying in Azalea's excitement to hold it close.
A huge ramp led right up to the front doors of the building that had its double doors folded back.
There was a window to the left billowing with steam from a sizzling kitchen where a small squad of demons bustled about to make the hanging orders for the eager customers.
The left had another window that a large coffee machine could be seen through. It sputtered and squealed when the human behind it made the beverages for the people sitting around thier tables outside.
The cold air hit me as soon as I crossed inside, and I stood there to enjoy it.
"Everything is air conditioned" Azalea smiled at my pleasure "no more sunburns or sweaty days, Teddy!"
"That's good" I smiled when she took my hand to lead me through the building.
There was a dining area in the back half behind all the wooden shelves for food tastings and shopping in the front. Two large barrels acted as the divider between browsing and dining.
"You have to see this" Azalea led me to through the dining area and to the back wall.
There was a little florist back here behind the wooden board backdrop that Azalea proudly beamed at.
"I kept them all" Azalea grinned at the baskets pinned to the back wall with our names still attached to them "found them in the corner of the garage just sitting there."
"And you still use them for sunflowers" I chuckled at them all laden with the bright blooms in thier own wrapped bundles decorated with twine bows "very ironic."
"Extremely" she elbowed me and pointed to the photo above it.
There was all of us gathered together for that last shot I sent to Azalea so long ago. Everyone was there, all smiling and burnt from the sun.
It was the pride and joy of the flower wall, sitting above the line of baskets that ran to the little door to the florist to the right.
"I've got more" Azalea rushed from the wall to point to the one between the dining booths where another photo sat.
"This is when we started building this whole area" she gushed "we all stood out the front there."
Azalea stood proudly beside Emry who had a hand on Petal's shoulder. Able was hunched next to them with as big of a smile she could manage.
She didn't look well there. And by the age of Petal, this photo wasn't too long ago. Maybe a few years?
Azalea took me to the next. Solomon and Leaf had a sunflower in each hand and were pulling strange faces with Petal who was down the front of them.
Leaf still had his Cradle on. It distorted his features and didn't look right in such a lighthearted photo.
"You'll like this one" Azalea went to the next block of booths.
I followed along and saw her point smugly to the one settled there.
Everyone was here except for me.
Able stood to the side, a lot healthier and less stooped in this memory. Pistachio stood beside her with Leaf behind them. 99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTlrbpKefka
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I barely recognized Mitzi or Cricket in the back with Solomon. They were clean of any mutations, and grinned hugely. 99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0bCpzAvVJ
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Azalea had her place beside Emry, and between them was River with Petal on his shoulders.
I leant in closer to make sure I wasn't mistaking him for someone else. 99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVda562ichU
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He looked good. There wasn't a single mutation on him or difference from when he had first gained his spots. He was still as young as I remembered him. 99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKHGRyvEB9x
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Everyone else had aged around him.
"Thought you'd like that" Azalea smiled at my disbelief "his shy little mate was the one who took the photo for us."
"Darcy?" I breathed "when we're they here?"
She leant over to press a nail to the bottom corner that was scribbled with numbers.
"Each one has its own date" she explained "this was eight years ago now."
Eight. Only two years after I had handed myself in. River and Darcy had been doing what I was now.
"He told me some shocking stories of him being in isolation after what happened" she continued as she took me around to the other photos to marvel at "they chained him up while he was in there. Didn't let him see or speak to Darcy for five years until he was released. He was different when he came back here; a little unsure of everything for a bit there. He was searching for you."
"Did he leave a number? Maybe an address?" I piped up hopefully as I pulled out my phone, only to have Azalea shake her head at me.
"He didn't have a phone. And both of them lived with some aunt of Darcy's or something, who wanted to make sure his parents couldn't contact him for thier safety. All he said was that he was trying to find you and your human, and then left it at that."
She took my phone from me while I saw the photo beside us had a strange human woman with a younger Petal sitting on her lap with a book. It was taken outside this building right here.
"Now you have no excuse to keep in contact, Teddy" Azalea tapped my shoulder with my phone when she handed it back "I gave you my new number and everything. I expect you you to keep it this time."
I smiled back and thanked her when she moved to the next booth that had Leaf in the foreground smiling while the others in the back were bent over working. River stood there with a basket on his back, holding up two halves of a sunflower to mimic Leaf's Cradle.
I snorted at his humour and felt myself ache inside at how close I had been to reconnecting.
He had been here. And it looked like he stayed a while to help clear out the fields, probably to wait a while longer for me before he decided to move on again with Darcy.
That one was dated back eight years as well.
"When was the last time you saw them?"
Azalea finally slid herself into the last booth and patted the table for me to do the same.
There was a photo here of Emry with a beam of wood supported on his shoulders that River and Darcy sat either side of. It tipped in River's favour where he was frozen in laughter with protruding teeth and longer arms.
Darcy just looked like he was trying not to fall off. He was terrified and gripped into the beam so tightly.
"They stayed with us to help clear the field, which took a good two years after the group photo was taken" Azalea explained "we all chipped in too. Even Able was out there helping. The year after that we found her in her bed with Pistachio beside her. 99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0khvftLxAw
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We housed River and Darcy in one of our rooms while all this was still being built until we got things up and running. They stayed to help with that for another year until they left. They came back every now and then to check up, but the last I saw of River or Darcy was three years ago now. This was taken then when we were doing up the rooms out the back. They only stayed a few days and left again."
So, this was the most recent contact with them. River had obviously mutated, but hadn't otherwise changed his ways from the looks of this photo beside me. Darcy had short blonde scruff on his chin that matched the colour of his longer hair. He was much older but still appeared to be the same hesitant person I knew.
"I wish I had more to give you, but I'm sorry" Azalea sighed "the guy likes to stay out of contact. To keep his companion safe, I guess. I get that. I'd do the same for my little Petal."
I looked up to Azalea who held onto my hand I rested on the table. Her fingers ran over the darkened spots on my knuckles and above them from where I had been shocked for trying to steal more food over the years.
Each year had been a whole new surprise on what to expect from those carers.
"Where is Petal now? Did Able's plan work? You got to keep her?"
Azalea nodded and patted my hand as she straightened up.
"Able played her role before we found someone younger to take over. She pretended to be her mother whenever it came up, and we let her live with us to help sell the idea. Then the laws changed five years ago. Demons can actually care for thier own children now. I got to register myself as her mother, and we actually got to go out together and have fun. I didn't need Clarissa to do everything anymore. She was a wonderful woman, but she understood that it was time for me to love my daughter the way I wanted to, and she left. She's the one in the photo on the wall."
The laws themselves had changed too? What else was different?
"What about Cradles?"
"Inhumane and traumatic" Azalea replied with the flick of her wrist "they got rid of those twelve years ago."
"Tagging?"
"That's still a thing, but they use cards now instead of cattle tags" she eyed the hole in my ear as she spoke.
"The... Demon tip?"
Azalea knew what I was speaking about. She lowered her voice and leant in close with a smile.
"No demon goes to a tip anymore, Teddy Bear. We get put into cemeteries just like the human ones, and get buried under wonderful trees. It's really a beautiful place, and no-one can touch it."
"How long ago was that?"
"They changed that ten years ago" she smiled back "you should have seen everyone when they did! There was celebrations for days! And they fixed all the tips too. They dug out what they could, and gave them proper resting places. Even the unnamed ones got thier own place. It was beautiful. We all got a special day for it and everything."
I felt my eyes sting as they welled up at the news.
They had already destroyed the tips when Bee had been buried. I never needed to worry about Pretzel ending up in one herself. She was going to be safe from now on in this better world.
"And, get this" Azalea breathed "they returned all the souls they stole too. I didn't even know why or how they were doing it, but they passed this whole law prohibiting it. It wasn't thiers to take, they said."
Wasn't thiers.... I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
It had actually happened. We were not below them anymore. We were equals!
"When?" I chuckled back.
"Two years" Azalea held up her fingers "it's only a new one, but it's been a long time coming."
I couldn't believe it all. 99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJwxVlEXlM
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It made me laugh at how lucky I had been to make it this far and return to see how better it all was.
"You look like you could do with a good meal and drink to celebrate" Azalea winked at me before getting to her feet "it's on me. And then you can tell me what you've been doing all these years!"
I couldn't even fight her on that. She left before she could hear me insist on covering my own costs in her extravagant dining area.
She was the first one I spoke to in so long about anything. I laid it all out for her as she shared the bowl of chips between us on the table and I tried to appear not too greedy by limiting my bites of the burger placed before me. 99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXnB570qh4
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Emry even came out for a hearty hug that pulled me from my feet and to accept the money for the bet we had placed so long ago. 99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvy4vsFF918
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He found the whole thing amusing and even sarcastically said he'd frame it and hang it in the kitchen just to remind himself of who was right.
I knew there was some truth behind his words when he left to tuck himself away back in the kitchen the other demons poked thier heads curiously from.
Azalea was a good listener. She made sure I had all her attention and deserved comments. She was dumbstruck when I caught her up from what had happened when we last parted, to me walking into her new shop.
By the end of it all, she had her mouth hanging open.
"And you have no clue what happened since that ten years?" she gasped "Teddy, so much has happened! Like, so much!"
"I can tell I have a lot of catching up to do" I agreed meekly with the last drag of my milkshake.
"Look, you can stay with us tonight, free of charge" she decided and slapped the table when I tried to back out of her stretching generosity "we are friends, Teddy Bear! I have your photos on my walls and your basket with your name hung on my floristry! It's the least I could do for you helping me out in those fields for all those years."
I laughed at her exasperated sigh at me and finally agreed.
Its not like I had anywhere else to go.
"You like games, right?" Azalea grabbed the empty cup and chip basket "Emry is amazing at this new one that just released. Super competitive too. You two can verse each other tonight. Petal won't be home tonight, so we can have a games night. How's that sound?"
"Honestly" I blew out my breath as I tried not to be overwhelmed "really good."
"Finish your food" Azalea pointed to my burger then shook the cup she held "chocolate again?"
I just nodded and watched her leave for the kitchen window in the boxed area Emry and the others were rushing around in.
She really was too kind to me. It sounded like Emry had really settled down too and wasn't trying to fight every male just for looking at Azalea or his little Petal.
Jeez, what a mess that used to be.
It was well into the afternoon when Azalea finally released me from the table and allowed me to head to Able's old house with my suitcase.
It was strange to walk into a place I knew so well but looked nothing like I remembered.
Everything in here was modern, with a few thrifted pieces mixed in. 99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWGS0UnBin
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Able's dated decor was gone and replaced with more fresher colours.
I liked how Emry and Azalea kept the table we all used to gather around. It had a new table runner stretched down the middle of it to brighten the whole piece.
I placed the container on the kitchen bench and made my way down to the rooms, pausing at the open bathroom to smile at the inspirational stickers on the mirror above the sink River had cut my hair into.
Was the room beside it the one Azalea had hidden in with Emry and Flower when the reporters had shown up?
It was a nice bedroom with a simple queen bed that looked like it didn't get used. 99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JoF9TuK5l
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It was wrapped in a light blue doona that didn't have a single mark on it. 99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGi4EL4uxIy
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Beside that was a white desk with a ceramic shell on it that was neatly filled with a little hand towel and mini soap. I could smell that it had been placed ages ago as decor, and not changed since. 99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzoMJM4Tss
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The wall opposite the bed had a shelf for a clear vase of fake daisies and a bunch of books stacked on thier sides.
I turned back to the bed and scowled down at it.
It was just like that hanging bed in isolation; smoothed flat so meticulously without a thing wrong with it.
I pressed my finger down onto the fluffy surface to indent it and grin at how comfortable it all felt already.
"Teddy" I heard Emry's voice with a knock on the door "hope it's all good in here for you. I can get new sheets if you want?"
"These ones are good" I smiled back and ran my hands over them "they feel amazing."
So squishy and puffy. They seemed to inflate when I touched them. And the pillows were fat with stuffing, unlike the flat ones I had slept on.
"I guess anything would be an upgrade" he forced a grin back awkwardly before stepping into the room "there... there isn't anything I need to be worried about, is there? With you coming out of that place?"
"Like what?" I asked when I heaved my suitcase onto the bed and pulled out my wrapped trinkets to line them up along the window sil.
Emry watched before sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Well, River didn't like being touched on the back" he explained "and he had a thing with anything breaking. He'd freak out. I just want to make sure you don't have anything I need to be aware of."
I wasn't entirely sure myself. Who knew what sorts of things I had picked up unknowingly to save myself from the memories of isolation.
"My hands, I guess" I held them out for him to look at "they electrocuted me along them, so maybe don't touch them if you don't have to."
"Got it" Emry nodded back seriously.
"I don't know a lot of things" I shrugged while zipping my suitcase back up "so I don't know what's bad or not just yet. I'm just trying to stay clean so I can find them all again."
Emry understood and decided to leave my room, hesitating in the doorway.
"You're a good sleeper, right?"
"I think so? Why?"
"No reason" he just replied with an awkward nod and left me to settle in.
Something had happened when River and Darcy had been here. By the sounds of things, River had underlying issues from his time chained up, understandably.
It made Emry nervous to be faced with someone else from the same place that had changed River. Maybe it even scared him a little?
I ran my fingers over my knuckles to feel nothing flare up inside me.
Perhaps the places I had been stabbed at for years weren't my triggers after all?
Emry was waiting for me at the table when I emerged again. 99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkw6p4QVJZz
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Azalea was here too, grinning when she saw me peek around the corner to them.
"So? Do you like the room?" she gushed "it's cute, isn't it?"
"Super cute" I chuckled to her excitement "smells clean too."
"Well, it is a little messy" she added "I didn't know we were expecting guests."
Messy? The place was a little dusty, but nothing that looked disasterous.
I liked the dust. There wasn't dust in isolation. It was always too clean and didn't have all the interesting smells a room closed up for so long had.
"So, tonight, the guys would like to cook you a nice meal" Emry started when I joined them at the table "I told them about who you are, and they said they would be excited for you to try what they have to make."
"You need to try Able's scones" Azalea giggled when she looked to Emry "we took Able's recipe and recreated her scones she used to hide the money in. But instead of money in the middle, it's a little fortune. Kids especially like the gimmick of it all."
"We thought it was a funny idea" Emry cracked a smile now "and super cute."
"We also made buns with sunflowers stamped into the tops. And spirit cakes! Everyone loves them!"
"We stick a sparkler in the top to make it look like a spirit is falling onto it" Emry added with a proud grin.
"There's so much you need to try!" Azalea gushed "I can't wait for our guys to make them for you!"
"Deer is such a good artist" Emry boasted "the kid is super skilled with his hands. And Johnathan has such a good eye for detail. And then Star..."
He was so excited just to tell me about his new crew. He boasted about his team and each ones strengths to me. 99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKmsI57241
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It reminded me of when we had been a team working so hard side by side.
Had Able felt the same pride like this in us when she watched over us our in her field? If she could have bragged like this to someone, I bet she would have.
What would she have said about each of us?
"...then Soot almost lost the whole thing!" Emry chuckled and prompted my smile to try and hide the fact I hadn't been listening.
I didn't need to listen until now. I really had to work on that. I had let my senses grow lazy while staring at walls.
Emry's smile faltered and I realised I had been caught.
"Sorry."
"It's alright" Emry waved aside while Azalea whipped out her phone to begin typing on it "things are bound to be a bit funny for a while."
"It'll all be weird until we get you back to your little lover's circle" Azalea spoke and showed her screen she was filling with text "I'm going to put out a call for information on where they might be. The internet is a hell of a thing. It can even track down someone who doesn't use it."
"It can do that?"
"Why not give it a go?" she replied and held up her phone again "give me a smile, Teddy."
It was an awkward photo that she took and attached to her information. I only saw a glimpse of it next to the old photos of me in the sunflowers.
"Someone had got to know something" Azalea breathed when she finished and sent her plea online "all we can do now is wait."
I groaned and hung my head into my hands.
All I had been doing was waiting. I felt like I was right back where I had begun and being no closer to finding where any of the missing parts of my heart were.
I had to be patient, but it was so hard.99Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSpfNEUiyn
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I just needed to put this all behind me and live my life with the people I wanted desperately in it.
But for now, all I could do was try to force a gratious smile back on, squash down those bitter tears of defeat, and go kill my sorrows in hot food and cold drinks with the company of two very good friends who were determined to make my life feel complete again.
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