Deuce woke up when the sun had just risen, coloring the horizon with beautiful purple and orange. The bed underneath him wasn't as comfy as the bed back in the dorm. Where is he? He tried to sit up, but he felt something was holding his hand down.

Or someone to be exact.

A very-familiar ginger was sitting on a plastic chair, one arm folded on the bed as he rested head on top his it while his other was holding Deuce's. What is he doing here? Looking around, he finally recognized his surroundings. He was in the infirmary where most of the beds were occupied. How did he get here again?

Looking back to the ginger, Deuce felt slightly guilty that he had to wake up the boy from his slumber, but he needed some answer. "Ace." He tried to call, poking the ginger's cheek. "Ace. Wake up."

The ginger scrunched his eyes before blinking to awakening. Realizing that his friend had sat up on the bed, Ace's red eyes immediately widened. "Deuce!" He shot up from his seat, bringing himself closer to Deuce. "You're awake!"

"Y-Yeah." Obviously taken back the sudden invasion of personal space, Deuce put a hand on Ace's chest to push him back slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I..." Blinking, Deuce noticed how Ace's cheek suddenly became redder. The ginger cleared his throat before sitting back at his seat, not really looking at Deuce. "Y-You were unconscious for nearly a day. I-I'm just here to make sure you don't die in your sleep."

Deuce frowned. "Ace. I'm not dying."

Ace snapped his head toward him, looking slightly angry. "You almost did!" he shouted. "Azul took you magic and..."

Ace looked down at his hand which was still holding onto Deuce. Oh. Now, he remembered. The feeling when your whole magic was suddenly ripped away from you. The sensation of disconnection from your surroundings. It felt like he was floating in the void as his life flickered in and out.

Deuce's other hand moved, putting it on top of Ace's, making the ginger looked up to him. "I didn't mean to make you worry," Deuce said, thumb caressing the back of Ace's hand.

Ace let out a teary chuckled. "You're an idiot you know that."

"Hey..." Deuce pouted.

Ace laughed again. He smiled at him. Deuce didn't understand why his heart beating faster every time he saw that smile. "Good to have you back, buddy."

Deuce sighed but then smiled. "Glad to be back, partner."

-----

Grim sneezed from the cloud of flour that appeared before him. "Barret! Don't just throw flour in front of my face!"

Barret stuck his tongue out. "I'm doing exactly what the recipe is telling me to!"

"What recipe?!" Grim screamed back. "All we need is to flour the surface!"

Jonah rolled his eyes. "Guys, come on. We only have one oven here," he said. "We have to finish those sugar cookies first before moving to the shortcake."

Barret and Grim glared at each other but begrudgingly followed the order. Jonah sighed in relief. Glancing to his arm watch, he let out a curse when it was already past ten in the morning. Looking at Soo, he was doing fine with the preparation of the decoration and the strawberries, way better than Barret and Grim who kept showing off their cookie cuts. Jonah himself couldn't really do much with one hand. Sure, his prosthetic arm is very high-tech but without its complete parts, it missed some feature, mostly that required handheld.

He stopped stirring, making Lou who was holding the bowl of shortcake batter looked up to him. Jonah bit the inside of his mouth. Looking at the stump on his right wrist, the guilt set in his chest once again. Will Senior Ashengrotto be okay? He knew he still has the twins, but will they be fine all on their own? He wanted to go see them but would Senior Jade and Floyd let him go and see the boss, after everything he had done to him?

"Jonah?" Jonah blinked, turning to Lou. "You okay?"

Jonah sighed, giving him a small smile. "I will be," he said. "Just need some things in my mind." He stared back to his batter. Give him time. But, for how long?

He huffed. Maybe he could think about that later. Right now, he had to make sure these sweets are baked perfectly.

-----

The Goodbye Party at Heartslabyul went well. Nobody was late, everything went according to plan, and everyone was enjoying the moment before they have can go back home around noon. Everything was perfect.

So, why the red-haired prefect didn't feel satisfied at all?

Riddle sighed for who knows how many times, his left elbow rested on the table and chin in his palm, his other hand aimlessly stirring the spoon in his already cold tea in his cup. Most of the students had already left, some tables were cleaned by the members' on-duty. Unsurprisingly, no snacks were left, some of them took the leftover back home, which Riddle let them slide for this once. He hadn't even touched his slice of strawberry tart, not really having the appetite.

"Riddle." The small prefect looked up at his vice who looked down at him worriedly. "You packed your things, right?"

Riddle hummed. "I sent them home."

Trey nodded. "You need anything else before you leave?"

Riddle shook his head. "I'll wash my own plate. You can go ahead."

Trey was silent for a moment, staring at his childhood friend who sighed again before going back to playing with his spoon. It was very obvious what was going on in Riddle's head and for once Trey didn't know what to do. He couldn't just say that the captain is doing fine when the last time they saw him was during his panic attack.

Looking to the side, Trey saw Cater was motioning him to go inside, probably to help around in the cleanup. Glancing one last time to the prefect, Trey walked away, leaving Riddle once again alone. The prefect sighed again. He knew he had to go back soon. His mother is probably waiting. He couldn't be late, even if nothing was waiting for him at home. He needed to talk to her about everything that had been going on. She probably had many questions about his overblot incident and him losing his unique magic for a while. The talk wouldn't be pretty, but Riddle had gotten used to it at this point. Though, he wished he could just avoid it, at least for a while. He wasn't in a mood of digging old memories when he was still worried about the current matters-

"I hope you don't mind this." A plate of strawberry shortcake was suddenly placed in front of him. "I even made this marshmallow replica of you." Riddle's eyes widened when he finally recognized the voice. A finger came from his side into his line of vision, pointing at the miniature marshmallow that was placed next to the sweet. "It even has its arms crossed out because he's tired of waiting for a very late pirate friend."

Finally, Riddle looked up to his side as the finger pulled back. "Jonah..." he whispered.

The captain was smiling softly at him, looking better than the last time they had seen each other. "Hey, Senior Riddle," he answered.

Riddle didn't hold back. Jumping from his seat, he threw his arms around Jonah, hugging him. Even with one hand, Jonah managed to spin Riddle as he let out a teary laughed. Both boys closed their eyes as they hugged tighter, embracing in each other's warmth as they've missed so much.

"You're okay," Riddle whispered.

"I will be. Eventually." Jonah pulled back first, resting his forehead onto Riddle. "I'm sorry for everything."

"I can't get mad at you forever." Riddle opened his eyes slowly, his lips pulled up into a soft smile. "You taught me that, right? Everyone deserves a second chance."

Jonah chuckled. "Using my own words against me." He smiled. "I guess I have thanked you as well. You saved my life many times."

Riddle nodded. "I have your back, captain. Just don't get into too much trouble."

"I'll try my best, your majesty." Jonah pulled him closer, cradling the back of Riddle's head.

They stayed like that for a while as the soft wind blew the rose petals around them. They never acknowledge the rest of the Heartslabyul Gang plus Grim were spying them from behind the door or the clock chimed for one o'clock, signaling that it was really late. But it didn't matter.

This moment is.

After all the dangers through the rough sea, the storm had finally calmed down, opening the clear horizon once again.