A Paw Patrol Story 12: Forgiving Yourself

Chapter 5

Matthew began to slowly process how to go about his plan to leave the Lookout without being detected and without the use of his gadgets. "Hmm... I don't know how far I will get without my grapple wristbands, but I don't really have a choice. But for now, I better come out of hiding before the others start looking for me." Matthew then made his way out of his secret hiding place, seeing that no one was inside the Lookout. "Looks like the coast is clear." Matthew then carefully walked outside, seeing that the pups were just chatting with Chase and Champ.

???:Hey, little dude!

Matthew looked up, seeing that Zuma was looking directly at him. "Oh, hey Zuma." Matthew noticed the frown on the chocolate lamb's face, as he lowered his closer to the small human. "Is evewything okay?" He asked with a sad tone in his voice. "I'm worried about you."

Matthew: What if I had never come here at all? Would things have been better for you everyone here?

Zuma:Why do you think that?

Matthew: It's just something that's been on my mind for quite a while now. Ever since arriving here, you guys always seem to be put in danger by someone who comes looking for me. I bring nothing but danger to you all.

Zuma sighed, then gently nuzzled Matthew. "We knew what we were getting into when we bwought you in." He said softly. "Doesn't change how we feel about you. We need you, more than you know." Zuma then walked away, leaving Matthew feeling conflicted about his plan to leave Adventure Bay. "Am I really making the right call? Leaving everything behind?" Matthew thought to himself, as he wandered away from the pups.

???:Matt, wait up!

Matthew turned around, seeing that Lucas was coming over to him. "Oh, hey Lucas." He said, looking up at the African Wild Dog. "Just wanted to check on you, couldn't find you earlier. Where did you go?" Hearing this made Matthew a little nervous, not wanting Lucas to find out about his secret place. "I just wanted to be alone, I was still here, so don't worry."

Lucas:I know you're angry, but I want you to know that me and the others are here for you if you need to talk. Can't have my teacher be upset during training. Nathan wouldn't want that for you.

Matthew:Lucas...

Lucas:I hope Princess and Henry are doing alright. I miss them...

Matthew:(Softly Chuckles) Both, or just Princess?

Lucas immediately blushed as he looked away from Matthew. "Of course I miss both of them! Really Matt?" Matthew couldn't help but let out another chuckle. "You really care for them, don't you?" Hearing this, Lucas looked at Matthew and smiled. "I do, they were with me when I arrived in Australia. Being around Princess, I couldn't help but smile. After the loss of my mother, and my father taking my siblings, just being around Princess is comforting. You know what I mean?" Lucas said. "I guess I could say that about me being around you guys. Watching you guys play with the others, the times we train, I don't know what it is, but it feels like-""You're alive, aren't you?" Lucas said, interrupting Matthew mid sentence. "Yeah, exactly."

Lucas;I can understand if you're not in the mood to train today, just try to get yourself calmed down, okay?

Matthew:Okay...

Lucas:One more thing before I go?

Matthew:What is it?

Lucas:Promise me you'll talk to Champ? He could really use someone to comfort him...

Matthew sighed as he looked away from the Wild Dog. "I'll try, I guess." "Don't try, just speak." Lucas said, walking away from Mathew. "The more I hear of how worried they become, the more I see how me being here is doing nothing but causing problems... I should start to focus on the plan I have set... But first, perhaps I should try to ease Champ's consciousness by trying to talk to him, that's if he'll listen." Matthew thought to himself, slowly walking over to where Champ was. Champ was just laying down near Marshall's puphouse, feeling guilty and worried about his best friend.

???:Hey Champ...

Champ looked down, seeing that Matthew had come over. "Oh, hey there..." He said, in a rather sad tone. "You okay?" Matthew asked, placing his right hand on Champ's muzzle. "I'm fine. Just feel bad, you know? I know there's nothing I can do to fix what I have done. There's nothing I can say other than "sorry..." But even that doesn't feel good enough for what had happened." Hearing this made Matthew feel like he couldn't say anything, even if he did, he questioned if it would even matter. But he knew he had to at least try to help Champ. "I'm sorry for shouting at you earlier... I don't want you to be upset over something in the past, I want you to focus on what is happening now. We all make mistakes. The best we can do is learn from them and keep moving forward, like you taught me. Right?" "I did teach you that, didn't I?" Asked Champ, as he looked at the small human. "You learned from the mistakes you made when you were growing up by yourself, so now you need to learn from the ones you made recently. It's the only way we grow, right?" Upon hearing his little friend say this, Champ couldn't help but slightly smile. "Yeah... You're right. Hearing you say that reminds me of my dad. It's like with you around, he's still here." Champ then shrunk down, jumping right into Matthew's arms, hugging him tightly, as tears came down his face. Matthew sat down, comforting his pup. "Heh, I sometimes forget how heavy you are." He chuckled, using a hand to wipe the tears off Champ's face. "Your father would be so proud to see how far you've come since his passing." Champ then tackled Matthew and started to lick his face.

Matthew:Hehehehe! Okay, okay, easy Champ!

Champ giggled as got off Matthew and returned to normal size. "Thanks Matt, I really needed that." Matthew nodded his head as Champ then went to go play with the others. "Glad that's over with, now I can continue to play my way out of here, and out of this town." Matthew made his way back into the Lookout, trying his best to avoid the pups. "I can use my puppad to hack into the security system, but then I would have to, well, smash it to avoid being tracked, same goes for my wristbands..." He thought to himself, as he sat down on the floor, trying to wrap his head around on his plan. After some time had passed, Matthew saw that the sun was beginning to set. "It's almost time, better get everything into place. There could be no going back after this."