TW death, slight blood, drowning, basically angst.

Britta POV

The meetings over. Sam and Toby still haven't come back yet. We decided to negotiate the terms of surrender tomorrow at 1:00. Fundy will send the message. In other words, we lost. After fighting for so long. It was worthless. Not even Tommy tried to fight L'manburg's demise. We were all tired when Wilbur dismissed us. I crawl into bed.

***

Too early morning comes. Sam still isn't here, I'm getting a little worried. But I trust her. She wouldn't run off without a reason. Lily comes in with a sad look, "Wilbur wants us to meet in the caravan" I nod wordlessly and get changed. I walk out of our small house just outside the walls into the nation we fought so hard to keep. It's all over. When I cross the bridge over to the caravan I notice everyone crowded around the side. "What's going on?" I whisper to Tommy. "Toby and Sam fell asleep on the roof last night." I look a little closer and see that they are wrapped up in a blanket. Toby is holding her close and Sam has her head on his chest. Both sleeping peacefully, not knowing the appending doom of our country.

Eventually They woke up from the small giggles and aw's. Tommy and Lily aren't letting them hear the end of it. We sit in the caravan planning out who will go and what they will say. We decided that since Tommy and Wilbur are in charge that they will man the mission.

They set off out of the gates and we wait patiently.

Tommy's POV

Anger bubbled inside me as we walked to the dream SMP. When we got there, Wilbur sat down with Dream and comprised. I may, (or may not have) been eavesdropping. "We fought well." Wilbur states. "You can say that" Dream says with equal force. "What do you mean 'you could say that'?" "With how much you were against, you fought well. You had so much disadvantage" I could feel my blood boiling. "Dream, don't say that. We fought incredibly, you egotistical green-" Dream cut me off "you fought incredibly well, but we fought better" Thats it. "Dream! You know what?! What if we fight right now? Yeah! What if we fight right now" "Tommy!" Wilbur tried to defuse but I kept going. "Just you and me, what if we fight right now, a one v one! A bow duel, yeah let's do it!" I started spewing profanity's. I was MAD "Tommy calm." Wilbur grabs my shoulder. "That would get you nowhere." He turned to Dream. "We may of had our agreements but I promise you this man doesn't speak for me." I wasn't done though. "What do you have to lose Dream? Let's one verses one. A bow duel at two. In front of everyone, alright?" He agreed.

After we left Wilbur turned to me. He looked mad. "Tommy, what was the one thing I asked, Tommy?" I seem to shrivel under his gaze. "Wilbur, I have to do this" He puts his hands on my shoulders. "Tommy, your life is more important than L'Manberg." "Wilbur, I need to do this" I repeat. He sighs and takes a deep breath. "Fine."

I stand by the docks nervously biting my nails. Tommy comes up to me. "Britta, if I die, there's something that I want you to know." "Tommy don't say that" He sighs. "Shh, ever since you gave me that bloody nose. I knew that you were just like me. Protective, lost, your thoughts sometimes drowned you, you try to fight it, but you can't. So you hid it under a shield of comedy and happiness." He moves my brown hair out of my eyes. "I get that. But I want to be the one that helps you let down that shield. The one that comforts you and holds you when you can't hold your breath anymore. I want to be there for you" he closes eyes for a second and takes a deep breath. "I want to do this" he leans in quickly and places his lips on mine. They seem to fit together. And for a small second I forget everything that's happening around us. He pulls away just as Dream shouts. "Stop with the soap opera and get moving." Tommy rolls his eyes and heads off bow in hand.

One

Two

Three

Wilbur counts off

Four

I can't let him do this

Five

But I can't stop it either

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

"Wait!" I call out

Ten paces, fire.

It all goes so fast. Tommy jumps into the water and shoots at Dream. He misses. Dream shoots and it hits Tommy in the stomach. All of a sudden the world freezes. It's fatal. We won't remember anything. Not me, not Wilbur. No one. I see his hands try to claw His way up from the water. But it's useless. The water turns red with his blood. I lunge forward and onto the pathway. I grab his arms and with the help of Wilbur we pull him up. Nikki comes rushing to him and checks his pulse. "It's weak, if I can get him to the caravan in time he could possibly live."

I wake up in a bed. I have a bandage around my stomach. I try to sit up when a sharp pain shoot through my body. I grunt catching the attention of Britta. That's weird. I still remember her. The last time someone died, they had to relearn everything. Maybe it only works with certain people. Her eyes are red and puffy. She's been crying. "Tommy?" "Yeah" a small smile breaks out on her face. "Hey, how are you feeling?" "Like crap" she chuckles and grabs my hand "that's to be expected after being in paled." I smile and put my hand on her cheek. "Yeah"

***

After a week of bed rest Nikki finally let me go. Everyone helped explain what happened. I died. I still forgot some things but it's just some unimportant stuff. I went straight to my house and got my disks. So many days that Toby and I spent on the bench listening to them and just talking. No stress, no fear, no secrets. Just to teenagers talking their woes away. I know what I have to do. I grab Cat and Melloi and start walking.

When I reach dreams house I slowly raise my hand slowly and knock. The man comes to the door. "Yes Tommy?" I pull my disks out of my bag. "I want to make a deal."

L'Manberg has a eerie vibe. It's too quiet. No arguments, no play fights, no laughter, no nothing. Just silence. Everyone is at their houses. Everyone except Wilbur. He's in the caravan, I hear sniffles coming from the back room. "Wilbur?" "Here" his voice is gravelly and rough. He sounds tired. I bend down to his level and hug him. "Wilbur," "yeah?" "I've secured our independence."